Slum Population in India

Slum Population in India - Slum Population simply refers to people living in slum areas below the poverty line. As India is still on the path of development, there is large number of people living below the poverty line. These people usually live in slum areas connected to the city. According to Government sources, the Slum Population of India have exceeds the population of Britain. It has doubled in last two decades. According to last census in 2001, the slum-dwelling population of India had risen from 27.9 million in 1981 to 61.8 million in 2001. Indian economy has achieved a significant growth of 8 percent annually in last four years, but there is still large number of people nearly 1.1 billion still survives on less than 1 $ (around 46 INR) in a day.

Increase in Indian Population over a period of time has also resulted in slum population growth. Despite of Government efforts to build new houses and other basic infrastructure, most of the people living in slum areas do not have electricity, water supply and cooking gas.

Slum Population in Mumbai - The financial capital of India known as Mumbai is home to estimated 6.5 million slum people. Nearly half of Mumbai's Population lives in small shacks surrounded by open sewers. Nearly 55% of Mumbai's population lives in Slum areas.

Slum Population in Delhi - After Mumbai, Delhi has the second largest slum Population in India. Nearly 1.8 million people lives in slum areas in capital of India - New Delhi. These people are mostly unemployed or daily wage workers who cannot even afford basic necessities of life.

*Million Cities of South India

*Reader,Dept. of Research Methodology,Tata Institute of Social Sciences,Mumbai – 400 088