Census town

Topic: Human Settlements and Urbanisation in India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Human Settlements"

Meaning

A census town is a place that has no urban local body (no municipality or corporation) but that the Census of India still counts as urban, because it passes three tests together: at least 5,000 people, at least 75% of male main workers in non-agricultural work, and at least 400 persons per sq km [2][3].

It matters because census towns are counted as urban but run like villages. Their number nearly tripled between 2001 and 2011, so they explain a large part of the rise in India's urban population in that decade.

Explanation

The two kinds of urban place

• In Census 2001 and 2011, a place is urban if it is either a statutory town or a census town. One of the two is enough.
• Statutory town: urban by law. The State government notifies it as an urban local body, such as a municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment board or notified town area committee [2]. It needs no size, job or density test.
• Census town: urban by numbers. It has no urban local body, and a gram panchayat (village council) runs it. The Census applies its own tests to decide that it is urban.

The three tests (all must be met together)

1. Population: at least 5,000 people.

2. Work: at least 75% of male main workers do non-agricultural work [2][3]. - A main worker is a person who worked for 6 months or more in the reference year. - Only men are counted in this test.

3. Density: at least 400 persons per sq km [2][3]. - If a place fails even one test, it stays rural. For example, 4,800 people or 70% non-farm male workers is not enough.

How a village becomes a census town (cause → process → result)

• Cause: large villages, mostly near big cities and along highways, move away from farming.

• Men take up jobs in trade, transport, factories and services.

• Process: at the next Census these villages pass all three tests.

• The Census reclassifies them, which means it moves them from rural to urban.

• Result: the urban population rises even though no one moved and no new municipality was set up.

• Census towns rose from 1,362 (2001) to 3,894 (2011), nearly three times as many.
• Together with natural increase and migration, this reclassification explains much of the rise in urban population in 2001-11.

The NCERT wording trap

• NCERT quotes the Census 1991 definition. It joins the two kinds of town with "and".
• The Census really uses "or". A small cantonment is urban by law alone and does not need 5,000 people.
• "And" applies only inside the census-town rule, where all three tests must be met together.

Where it occurs

• An Indian Census category: the Census of India uses it to measure urbanisation and to build the Town Directory (the Census list of all towns, with their population, area and services).
• Census 2011 count: 3,894 census towns, against 4,041 statutory towns, for 7,935 towns in total [4]. The final Census tables give 3,892 census towns and 7,933 towns in total [2].
• Leading States (Census 2011) [3]:
• West Bengal: 780
• Kerala: 461
• Tamil Nadu: 376
• Maharashtra: 279

• Uttar Pradesh: 267

• Typical location: large villages on the edges of big cities and along highways. This is where unplanned peri-urban growth (growth on the edge of a city) happens.

• Policy reach: the Ministry of Urban Development (now MoHUA, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) asked 28 States to convert 3,784 census towns into statutory urban local bodies (ULBs) [3].

Don't confuse with

• Statutory town: urban by law, because it has a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee. It needs no population, job or density test. A census town is urban by numbers and has no urban local body.
• Outgrowth (OG): a built-up area next to a town that has urban features but is not itself a town, such as a railway colony, university campus, port area or military camp. It is counted as part of an urban agglomeration, not as a census town.
• Urban agglomeration (UA): one continuous urban spread. It is a town plus its outgrowths, or two or more towns that touch each other [2]. A UA is a group, while a census town is a single place.
• "75% of workers in the primary sector": this is the classic wrong version. The real test is 75% of male main workers in non-agricultural work. The primary sector (farming, fishing, forestry and mining) is the opposite of what the test asks for.

Prelims Hooks

• Census-town tests, all three together: ≥5,000 people + ≥75% of male main workers in non-agricultural work + ≥400 persons/sq km [2][3].
• Census towns: 1,362 (2001) → 3,894 (2011), nearly three times as many.
• Were there more census towns than statutory towns in 2011? No. Statutory towns were more: 4,041 > 3,894 [4].
• State with the most census towns (2011): West Bengal (780), then Kerala (461) and Tamil Nadu (376) [3].
• A census town is run by a gram panchayat, not by a municipality.
• Trap: a railway colony or university campus next to a town is an outgrowth, not a census town.

Mains Points

• Urban in the count, rural in how they are run:
• The 3,894 census towns (2011) are governed by gram panchayats.
• So they lack piped water, sewerage, drainage and solid waste systems. They have no master plan or building rules.

• The result is unplanned peri-urban sprawl, especially in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

• Policy response and its tensions:

• MoHUA asked 28 States to convert 3,784 census towns into statutory ULBs, for planned infrastructure, more revenue and better services [3].
• Converted towns qualify for central grants under the 14th Finance Commission rules and raise a State's AMRUT share [3]. Missions such as AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission (2015) fund only statutory ULBs, so census towns are left out [3].

• Panchayats often resist, because urban status brings higher property taxes and the loss of rural scheme benefits. This works against the 74th Amendment's aim of elected urban government.

• Hidden urbanisation:

• Many large villages are urban in character but fall just short of one test, so they are counted as rural.
• So the official urban share of 31.16% (2011) [4] probably understates real urbanisation. This distorts planning and the sharing of funds.

Related concepts

• Census definition of urban area
• Statutory town
• Urban agglomeration

Read more

• What counts as urban: the Census definition and units