The Registrar General of India has proposed retaining the 2011 Census definition of urban areas for Census 2027, but experts warn this outdated framework risks undercounting millions of people living in urbanised settlements.

Existing Urban Definition (2011 Census)

• Statutory Towns: Areas formally notified as urban by State governments, having urban local bodies (municipal corporations, councils, nagar panchayats).
• Census Towns: Places satisfying three criteria: 
  • Minimum population of 5,000.
  • Density ≥ 400 persons/sq. km.
  • “At least 75% of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural work.”
• Census towns remain administratively rural despite functioning like urban areas.

Limitations of Current Definition

• Binary Classification: Rural vs. urban ignores transitional and peri-urban settlements.
• Undercount of Urbanisation: Narrow criteria underestimate India’s urban population; many “urban” clusters appear “rural” on paper.
• Conservative Legacy: “The criteria were designed in 1961 with a conservative approach to maintain comparability and to prevent artificial inflation of urban classification.”
• Governance Mismatch: Large peri-urban areas and census towns function like cities but remain under rural governance.
• Mismatch with Reality: World Bank’s Agglomeration Index estimated 55.3% Indians lived in urban-like conditions in 2010, much higher than official 31%.
• Outdated Workforce Rule: Male-only and agriculture-based criteria ignore women’s informal work, gig economy, and seasonal migration.

Implications

• Planning Deficit: Urban-like settlements excluded from urban infrastructure, services, and schemes.
• Service Gaps: Poor provision of water, sanitation, transport, housing.
• Governance Inefficiency: Rural governance ill-suited to manage urban challenges.
• Statistical Misrepresentation: 2011 Census estimated urban population at 31%, but alternative density-based criteria suggest 35–57%.
• Policy Blind Spots: Misclassification hampers SDG targets and inclusive urbanisation policies.

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