What counts as urban: the Census definition and units

Detail

Why a definition is needed

• India has no single "natural" line between a village and a town. The Census of India draws that line for counting.
• What the Census calls "urban" decides three things:
• India's level of urbanisation (the share of people living in urban areas);
• which places count as towns in the Town Directory (the Census list of all towns, with their population, area and services);
• which places get urban funds. For example, statutory towns carry 50% weightage when AMRUT funds are shared among States/UTs [3].

The Census definition of an urban area (Census 2001 and 2011)

• Census definition of urban area: a place is urban if it is either a statutory town or a census town. It only needs to meet one of the two.

Feature	Statutory town	Census town
Basis	Law. The State government notifies it as an urban local body	Numbers. The Census applies its own tests
Who governs it	A municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment board or notified town area committee	No urban local body. A gram panchayat (village council) runs it
Size or jobs test	None. It is urban whatever its size or jobs	It must pass all three tests together
Census 2011 count	4,041	3,894 (Census 2001: 1,362)

• Statutory town: any place notified under law that has an urban local body (a municipal corporation, municipality, municipal committee or similar body) [2].

• Census town: a place without an urban local body that meets all three of these tests together [2][3]: 1. a population of at least 5,000; 2. at least 75% of male main workers in non-agricultural work. A main worker is a person who worked for 6 months or more in the reference year. Only men are counted here; 3. a density of at least 400 persons per sq km.

• Exam trap: the test is 75% in non-farm work, not "75% in the primary sector". The primary sector means farming, fishing, forestry and mining. Exercise 1(ii) in NCERT uses the wrong version as a distractor.

The NCERT wording and why it misleads

• NCERT quotes the Census 1991 definition. It joins the two kinds of town in one sentence with "and".
• The Census really uses "or". A statutory town does not also need 5,000 people. A small cantonment or a notified area is urban by law alone.
• The three tests are joined by "and" only inside the census-town rule.

Census 2011 numbers on towns

• Total towns: 7,935, made up of 4,041 statutory towns and 3,894 census towns [4]. (The final Census tables give 7,933: 4,041 statutory and 3,892 census towns [2].)
• Towns of all kinds rose from 5,161 (Census 2001) to 7,935 (Census 2011) [4].
• Census 2011 urban population: 377 million, which is 31.16% of India's people [4].
• For the first time since Independence, urban India grew more than rural India in 2001-11 [4]:
• urban increase: 91 million;

• rural increase: 90.5 million.

• Million-plus cities (1 million or more people): 53 in 2011, up from 35 in 2001 [4].

The census-town boom (2001-11) and its problems

• What happened:
• Census towns nearly tripled: 1,362 (2001) → 3,894 (2011).
• This happened because many large villages, mostly near big cities and along highways, shifted from farm work to non-farm work.

• The result: places were reclassified (moved from rural to urban). This explains much of the 2001-11 rise in urban population, apart from natural increase and migration.

• Where they are: West Bengal 780, Kerala 461, Tamil Nadu 376, Maharashtra 279, Uttar Pradesh 267 [3].

• Why they are a problem:
• They are urban in the Census count but rural in how they are run. Gram panchayats govern them.
• So they lack urban services such as piped water, sewerage, drainage and solid waste systems.

• They have no master plan or building rules, so unplanned growth follows.

• The policy response:

• 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].
• The aims: planned and joined-up infrastructure, more revenue and better delivery of services [3].

• The reward: converted towns qualify for central grants under the 14th Finance Commission rules, and they raise a State's AMRUT share [3].

• Open questions:

• Should States notify census towns as municipalities? Panchayats often resist, because urban status brings higher property taxes and the loss of rural scheme benefits.
• Hidden urbanisation: many large villages are urban in character but fall just below one test, for example 4,800 people or 70% non-farm male workers. They are counted as rural, so India's real urban share is likely higher than 31%.

Urban agglomeration (UA)

• Urban agglomeration (UA): one continuous urban spread [2]. It takes one of two forms:
• a town plus its outgrowths. An outgrowth (OG) is 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;

• two or more physically touching towns, with or without their outgrowths.

• Census 2011: 475 UAs.

• NCERT's Table 2.1 counts towns and UAs together (a UA counted as one unit): 6,171 in 2011. This is why its figure is lower than 7,935.
• Why UAs matter: a city's size and its "million-plus" status are judged at UA level. For example, Greater Mumbai UA includes nearby towns such as Thane and Navi Mumbai.

Link to the era

• Ancient towns such as Varanasi and Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), Pataliputra (now Patna, Bihar) and Madurai (Tamil Nadu) became urban through religion, trade and royal power. No numbers decided it.
• Colonial rule brought the legal forms still used today: municipalities, corporations and cantonments. These are the roots of the "statutory town".
• Today missions such as AMRUT (2015) and the Smart Cities Mission (2015) fund statutory ULBs. So a census town without a ULB is left out of urban funding [3].

Prelims Hooks

• Census-town tests (all three together): ≥5,000 people + ≥75% of male main workers in non-agricultural work + ≥400 persons/sq km.
• Trap: "75% of the workforce in the primary sector" is false. It is non-agricultural work, and only male main workers are counted.
• A statutory town needs no size, job or density test. A municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee is enough.
• Census 2011: 7,935 towns = 4,041 statutory + 3,894 census towns. Census towns in 2001: 1,362.
• More census towns than statutory towns in 2011? No. Statutory towns were more (4,041 > 3,894).
• State with the most census towns (Census 2011): West Bengal (780), then Kerala (461) and Tamil Nadu (376) [3].
• Census 2011 urban share: 31.16%, or 377 million people [4]. In 2001-11 the urban increase (91 million) was larger than the rural increase (90.5 million) for the first time [4].
• Urban agglomeration = a town plus its outgrowths, or touching towns. Census 2011 had 475 UAs and 53 million-plus cities/UAs [4].
• A railway colony or university campus next to a town is an outgrowth (OG), not a census town.

Mains Points

• Under-counting and hidden urbanisation:
• The census-town rule leaves out large villages that are urban in character but just below one test.
• Many States also delay notifying new ULBs.

• So the official 31.16% urban share (2011) understates real urbanisation. This distorts planning and fund sharing.

• Census towns: urban in the count, rural in how they are run:

• 3,894 census towns (2011) are run by gram panchayats. They have no master plans and weak water, sewerage and waste services.

• The result is unplanned peri-urban sprawl (unplanned growth on the edge of cities), especially in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

• Policy response:

• MoHUA has asked States to convert 3,784 census towns into statutory ULBs [3].
• Converted towns qualify for Finance Commission grants and gain AMRUT weightage [3].

• The tension: local resistance to higher taxes and the loss of rural benefits, against the 74th Amendment's aim of elected urban government.

• Region-level planning:

• The UA concept shows that cities grow across municipal borders, as in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.
• This supports metropolitan planning committees and planning for the whole region, not only for each municipality.