Urban Poor Percentage in State Higher Than National Average

BANGALORE: A South West Indian state, Karnataka with the urban poor percentage of 32.6 percent houses highest number of such masses as compared to the entire national average of 26 percent. For almost 3 decades, this figure has been the same, revealed a study conducted by a senior researcher at the Institute of Social and Economic Change.

Since the year 1973, the overall country’s urban poor made up for 49 percent whereas Karnataka’s count was also high with 52.5 percent.

In the capital city, Bangalore, the number of urban poor consists in between 15 percent and 19 percent of the present one-crore population. In this city, there has seen a growth in population and migration.

As per the UN Millennium Development Goals report, India is a home to 30 percent of the most deprived people in the world.

According to Kala Seetharam Sridhar, Professor and Head of Centre for Research in Urban Affairs, the rate of Karnataka’s urban poor population were always higher than other states. Many other states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra has 13 percent, 22 percent, 28 percent and 32.2 percent urban poor respectively.

Sridhar added, “There are several factors behind the higher trend, but a major one is the lower minimum wage in the State compared to,  say, Tamil Nadu. The other factor could be high migration into Karnataka and Bangalore in particular. The State’s urban policy too influences decisions on poverty,” reports Deccan Herald.

Many such people work in tertiary sectors like construction, cab drivers, hotels and eateries, insurance agents, helping hands in commercial, office and residential spaces, security personnel, cleaners, mechanics and not to mention street vendors, ragpickers and so on.

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