Indian Slums Close on the Heels of Urban Areas

The ratio of slum population to urban population has slightly dropped with the slum population growing at a dawdling pace than urban areas. There is also not much of disparity seen in the household sizes of urban areas and slums. About 4.7 percent slums have shown a great fall in their family size too.

Slums are speeding up in education sector also. The literacy rate in slums has shot up to 78 percent when compared to the overall urban literacy of over 84 percent. The female literacy rate has taken a leap from 63 percent to 72 percent and is higher than the rise in male literacy which has a 4 percent hike from 80 percent to 84 percent. Yet there are some states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir which are yet left behind with lower literacy rates.

But interestingly, the work participation in slums is 1 percent higher than in urban areas. The participation of women workforce in slums is almost two percent higher than in the urban population. Yet there are some women in slums who are marginal workers and do not have employment throughout the year. Southern states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa have among the highest work participation rates with about 40 percent unlike states in North India which are among the worst.

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