The Hindu 04.09.2010
New definition for slums
Aarti Dhar
NEW DELHI: A new “reliable statistical model” to enumerate people living in urban slums indicates that their population will be 93.06 million in the 2011 census, against 75.26 million estimated in the 2001 census. This shows a growth of 17.8 million.
Incidentally, as per the new model, the number of those living in urban slums is 75.26 million, against the 52.4 million, according to the methodology followed by the Registrar General of India, in 2001 census. It is a jump from 23.50 per cent to 26.31 per cent.
The new statistical model is based on the report of the committee headed by Pranob Sen, Principal Advisor to the Planning Commission set up in 2008, which presents its report to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on August 30.
The Committee's report also gave a broader definition of slums to replace the existing one used by Census of India and the states. From now on, any compact housing cluster or settlement of at least 20 households with a collection of poorly built tenements which are, mostly temporary in nature with inadequate sanitary, drinking water facilities and unhygienic conditions will be termed as slums.
This new definition will serve as a guideline for Slum Census 2011 and will replace the existing one used by Census of India and the States. So far, while various States have their own definitions to identify slum, the Registrar General of India office that conducts Census identified only cluster of 60 houses as slums, leaving out smaller ones.
“Even non-notified slums are often kept out of the purview of the census because the States only acknowledge notified slums,” Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Selja said while releasing the guidelines on Friday.
