Urbanization Of India Essay

One of the remarkable features of the second half of the twentieth century is the spectacular growth of the urban population in the world. Developing countries have experienced rapid urbanization, with India having about 31% of the total population living in urban India. Several factors have contributed to the increased mobility and migration. Some of these factors are shift of work force from agriculture to industry and tertiary activities, progress in the field of education, better transportation and communication facilities and modernization of norms and values. The displacement of the workforce from rural area to urban has created serious stress at the receiving regions. The capacity of the cities and towns to assimilate the migrants by providing employment access to land, and basic amenities are limited. The migration to urban areas is been considered as a major factor for growth of slums in

In 2011 – 12, percentage of poor people in India was estimated to be 25.7% in rural area, 13.7 percent in urban area and 21.9% at the country level. In terms of numbers 216.5 million people were estimated to be rural poor and 52.8 million were urban poor.

A 2010 report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHDI) states that 8 Indian states have more poor people than 26 poorest African nations combined which totals to more than 410 million poor in the poorest African countries. A 2013 UN report stated that a third of the world’s poorest people live in India. A report published by UNICEF shows that one in three malnourished children worldwide is found in India, whilst 42% of the nation 's children below five years of age are underweight. It also shows that a total of 58% of children below five surveyed were stunted. These figures on malnourishment in India are worse than the figures of the countries in the sub – Sahara