Slum population in India : Extent and policy response

An increasing pace of urbanization and the absence of affordable housing has resulted in growth of slums in urban India. The Government of India (GOI) has been incorporating certain programmes to alleviate poverty , create employment opportunities and encourage planned urban development in its public policy , yet there has been a fast emergence of slums in the Indian cities due to a number of factors. The present paper aims to analyze certain demographic attributes of the slum population in India , the public policy response towards the same. It also reviews certain programmes designed by the government to control the growth of slums and the efforts to rehabilitate the slum-dwellers. It concludes that the policy of urban development must focus on slum clearance and rehabilitation of the poor and public-private partnership mode is a way out for integrated urban development. To create ‘inclusive cities’ in future there is an urgent need for improving the local government capacity to meet these challenges and ensure that the allocated funds reach the target population. There is a dire necessity for ‘good governance’ at all levels of the government. The ideal situation can be reached if institutional framework for appointing a regulator for urban development can be worked out.


Introduction
India has witnessed a rapid economic growth in the country over the last two decades as compared to the period between 1951 to 1991.This has placed India on a high growth trajectory leading to a rapid growth of industrial and service sectors, which in turn has led to an increased urbanization.There is an evidence of large scale migration of the rural poor to the cities/towns in search of employment.In the absence of any affordable housing there has been a growth of slums in the urban areas of the country.The pace of urbanization in India is likely to become faster in the coming decades and is likely to increase urban poverty.Even at current level of urbanization in India, urban deprivation levels are very high as there is absence of adequate housing and infrastructure facilities in the urban areas.The Government of India (GOI) has been incorporating certain programmes to alleviate poverty, create employment opportunities and encourage planned urban development in its public policy, yet there has been a fast emergence of slums in the Indian cities due to a number of factors.This has raised a number of issues regarding the socio-economic impact of reforms including the 'exclusion' of a certain category of population from the distribution of the gains of economic growth in the recent past.
The present paper aims to analyze certain demographic attributes of the slum population in India, its socio-economic and environmental impact and the public policy response towards the same.Certain programmes designed by the government to control the growth of slums and the efforts to rehabilitate the slum-dwellers have been reviewed.
Data and Methodology: The data on slums in India is based on the Census of India, 2001 conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commission of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI and National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and other GOI documents.The slum data for the census of 2011 have not been released.The data have been analyzed with respect to the ratio of slum population to total population, state-wise distribution of slums as well as their demographic profile.All the tables are based on Census of India (Slum population), 2001.The paper discusses the extent and features of slums in India followed by the public policy on the slums and its review.

2.Slums in India
Slums are illegal urban settlements on public land and usually grow over a period of time and surround the city from all sides.Slums are more prevalent in the metros, but are slowly coming up in other cities and towns of India also.One of the best planned cities in India is Chandigarh in north-west of the country, which is also being afflicted with slums in its periphery.The living conditions in the slums are sub-human, with little or no access to civic amenities like water, electricity, sanitation, etc.People and animals live in the same surroundings and hence the name " Slumdog" for those poor people who live in shanties , not out of their own choice but due to the economic circumstances which force them to lead a life bereft of human dignity.There is a constant fear of losing their home and meager belongings amongst the slum dwellers and they are many a times thrown out by the civic authorities but they, normally, resettle at the same location after a while.The politicians, time and again, make false promises to the inhabitants of slums to rehabilitate them in government provided shelters or dwellings but soon after the elections (local, state or national) are over, these lesser mortals are completely forgotten.It has become a routine to cultivate vote banks in these areas through some vulnerable self styled leaders or rather the more "powerful" amongst them and use them as henchmen or goons to intimidate the people into serving the interests of one or the other political party.Slums breed various types of anti social activities, create environmental problems and, more often than not, are havens for criminals.
In countries like India, where over population is a major hindrance to growth, slums crop up in the vicinity of urban settlements within days.It is a vicious circle of rural poverty leading to migration in cities in search of job, nonavailability of respectable full time employment hence poverty leading to these migrants building temporary shelter for themselves and later many of them following and using the vacant public space for building shanties and settling down.This further perpetuates poverty.In India most of the metros and other industrial and, of late, typically service towns and cities have slums around or at any other location within the city.The civic authorities ignore them, normally at the behest of local politicians, and later there is no stopping the growth of other slum related problems in the cities like crime, environmental degradation and excessive pressure on civic amenities.The cities of India are expected to be the engines of growth but their overall development depends on the quality of life in the urban areas.Therefore it is imperative to understand the dynamics of urban slums which act as a pressure on urban infrastructure and reduce its availability for those living in legal urban areas.For the purpose of Census of India, 2001, the slum areas broadly constitute of : According to the census of 2001 there were 27 cities with more than one million population accounting for 60 percent of the country's urban population.Nearly 17.7 million people live in the slums in these cities which is about 41.6 percent of the total slum population in the country.In absolute numbers Greater Mumbai has the highest slum population of around 6.5 million followed by Delhi (1.9 million) and Kolkata (1.5 million).
The slum areas of Surat, Hyderabad, Chennai and Nagpur have more than half a million population each.Except Patna (3,592) and Kalyan Dembiuli (34,860) most of these cities have slum population above 100,000.Table 2 shows the percentage of slum population in million plus cities.The size of the slum population in these cities is an indicator of the scale of migration which has taken place.54.1 percent of population of Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation lives in slums which is the highest among million plus cities followed by Faridabad (46.5 percent) and Meerut (44.1 percent).
Patna (0.3percent) has the lowest proportion of slum population.The slum population is more than a quarter of the total population in Kolkata (32.5 percent) Nagpur (35.9 percent) and Thane (27.8 percent).
Ludhiana (22.5 percent) and Surat (20.9 percent) have more than 20 percent of their population living in slums.There are only five million plus cities with slum population less than 10 percent of the total population.
The concentration of slum population in 27 large cities is evident from the fact that 41.6 percent of the country resides in these cities.Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation alone accounts for about 15.21 percent of the total slum population of the country and more than one third (36.6 percent) of the total slum population of the million plus cities.
Four Municipal Corporations namely, Greater Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Chennai, together account for 25 percent of the total slum population of the country and around 60 percent of the total slum population of the million plus cities.

Distribution of Towns Having Slum
Table3 depicts the number of towns/cities having slum population in each of the Indian states/UTs.In India the total number of towns reporting slum population is 640.The highest number of cities/towns reporting slums are in Andhra Pradesh (77) , which is followed by Uttar Pradesh (69), TamilNadu (63), Maharashtra (61) and West Bengal (59).Punjab, one of the richer states in India reports 27 cities with slums as there is a lot of migrant population in Punjab employed not only as agricultural labour but also in the urban informal sector like construction, household sector, etc. Amongst the major Indian states, Kerala has the least (13) number of towns having slums.Meghalaya and Tripura have only one city each having slums.According to table 4 it is interesting to note that although there is only one city in Meghalaya reporting slums but it has the highest proportion of slum population (65 percent) to total of that city.Maharashtra ranks second in terms of total slum population (33.3 percent) as India's largest slums are in Mumbai.This is followed by Haryana (33.1 percent) and Andhra Pradesh (32.2 percent) which are marginally behind Maharashtra even though the number of cities reporting slums in AP is much higher than Maharashtra and the number of such cities in Haryana is much lower than Maharashtra.There are only three states, viz., Goa, Assam and Kerala having less than 10 percent slum population as a percentage of total population in cities reporting slums.Some important findings of the survey are given below:  About 49000 slums were estimated to be in existence in urban India in 2008-09, 24 percent of them were located along nullahs and drains and 12 percent along railway lines. About 57 percent of slums were built on public land, owned mostly by local bodies, state government, etc.

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In 64 percent of notified slums, a majority of the dwellings were pucca, the corresponding percentage for the non-notified ones being 50 percent. For 95 percent slums, the major source of drinking water was either tap or tubewell. Only 1 percent notified and 7 percent non-notified slums did not have electricity connection.

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About 78 percent of notified slums and 57 percent of the non-notified slums had a pucca road inside the slum. About 73 percent notified and 58 percent non-notified slums had a motorable approach road. About 48 percent of the slums were usually affected by waterlogging during monsoon.32 percent with inside of slum waterlogged as well as approach road to the slum, 7 percent where the slum was waterlogged but not the approach road, and 9 percent where only the approach road was waterlogged in the monsoon. The sanitary conditions in the slums in terms of latrine facility during 2008-09 showed considerable improvement since 2002.Latrines with septic tanks (or similar facility) were available in 68 percent notified and 47 percent non-notified slums (up from 66 percent and 35 percent respectively in 2002).At the other extreme, 10 percent notified and 20 percent non-notified slums (down from 17 percent and 51 percent in 2002) did not have any latrine facility at all. About 10 percent notified and 23 percent non-notified slums did not have any drainage facility.The corresponding proportions in 2002 had been 15 percent for notified and 44 percent for non-notified slums.
Underground drainage systems or drainage systems constructed of pucca materials existed in about 39 percent notified slums (25 percent in 2002) and 24 percent non-notified slums (13 percent in 2002). Underground sewerage existed in about 33 percent notified slums (30 percent in 2002 ) and 19 percent nonnotified slums (15 percent in 2002). Government agencies were collecting garbage from 75 percent notified and 55 percent non-notified slums.
Among these slums, garbage was collected at least once in 7 days in 93 percent notified and 92 percent nonnotified slums.About 10 percent notified and 23 percent non-notified slums did not have any regular mechanism for garbage disposal.
 Over the last five years, facilities had improved in about 50 percent of notified slums in terms of roads (both within-slum road and approach road) and water supply.The incidence of deterioration of any of the existing facilities in notified slums during the last five years was quite low (about 6 percent or below). In case of most slum facilities -sewerage and medical facilities being exceptions the facility was reported to have improved during the last five years in more than 20 percent of non-notified slums.Deterioration of any of the existing facilities in non-notified slums, like notified slums, was rare (about 9 percent or below). Facilities such as street light, latrine, drainage, sewerage and medical facilities were each reported by more than 10 percent of notified slums to be non-existent both at the time of survey and five years earlier.In case of non-notified slums, facilities like street light, latrine, drainage, sewerage and garbage disposal were each reported by more than 20 percent of the slums to be non-existent, both during the survey and five years earlier. Where improvement had been brought about during the last 5 years, it was due to the government's efforts in about 80-90 percent of slums, both notified as well as non-notified and for all the facilities.Improvement in educational facilities at primary level was attributed to NGOs in 13 percent of the notified slums where such improvement was reported.NGOs were also found to have played a role in the improvement of latrine and sewerage system in non-notified slums.
The analysis of the latest data and information on slums in India as brought about by NSSO reveals that there has been a considerable improvement in the living conditions of the slum dwellers and this has been possible with the help of government programmes and policies for inclusive development in urban India.

Public Policy on Slums in India
After Independence in 1947 and the partition of the country , the Government of India took upon itself the task of rehabilitation of the migrants from Pakistan.Later as a part of the overall process of planning in India, various sections of the society have, from time to time, been taken care of in terms of special programmes for industrial workers, farm labour, slum dwellers, and other weaker sections of the society as well as housing schemes for them.Land and housing being a state subject, the central government has been a facilitator by way of providing financial assistance and administrative/legal framework for improving the living conditions in the slums.The central government has also been channelising funds received from international agencies to the states.There have been a number of poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes for rural as well as urban poor, but some policies/programmes are framed specifically for urban slum dwellers.
The first scheme(http://mhupa.gov.in/ministry/housing/pdf)under the name of 'Slum Clearance' was announced in the Second Five Year Plan of the GOI and consequently all the state governments were required to set up the necessary organizations and enact legislations for the same.The Fourth Five Year Plan emphasized on urban planning and decongestion of cities.A Scheme for Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums was undertaken in the Central Sector from 1972-73 with a view to provide a minimum level of services, like, water supply, sewerage, drainage, street pavements in 11 cities with a population of 8 lakhs and above.The scheme was later extended to 9 more cities.Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme was launched in 1980-81 to provide proper sanitation in the slums.The scheme is being operated through Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) by providing subsidy through the central government and loans by HUDCO.
The Seventh Plan explicitly recognized the problems of the urban poor and for the first time an Urban Poverty Alleviation Scheme known as Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) was launched.The Eighth Plan underscored the urgent need for urban development, environmental protection and provision of basic amenities to the urban poor like drinking water, sanitation, education and health services.One of the key issues to be addressed was identified as the haphazard growth of the cities and shortage of housing resulting in the emergence of squatters , shanties and slums.
National Slum Development Programme(http://mhupa.gov.in/programs/upa/nsdp/nsdparc.htm) was launched in 1996 for improving the living conditions of the slum dwellers in the cities/towns.Under the programme funds in the form of Additional Central Assistance were released by the Planning Commission to the states/union territories on an annual basis according to the slum population.The Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation was the nodal agency to monitor the progress of the programme.During the period 1996-97 to 2004-05, an amount of Rs.3089.63 crores was allocated to states/union territories out of which Rs. 2496.18 crores (nearly 8 percent) were spent upto 31 August 2006 and 4.58 crores of slum dwellers benefited from the scheme.Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) (http://www.hudco.org/jnnurm.htm)was launched by the GOI in December, 2005 to develop financially sustainable inclusive cities.As a part of JNNURM , Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) was launched with a view to ameliorate the dilapidated living conditions of the urban slum dwellers covering all the towns except the 63 identified mission cities covered under the programme for Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP).The basic objective of the Scheme is to strive for holistic slum development with a healthy and enabling urban environment by providing adequate shelter and basic infrastructure facilities to the slum dwellers of the identified urban areas.Allocation of funds among states is on the basis of the states' urban slum population to total urban slum population in the country.The funding is done by the GOI and the state concerned in the ratio of 80:20.Further the funds may be spent by the Urban Local Bodies, separate agencies of the states for this purpose as well as MP/MLA Local Area Development Funds.Funds from the central government will come to a nodal agency designated by the state/UT for the purpose.The states/UTs are required to undertake certain urban reforms in order to get the assistance from the GOI under the IHSDP.
The GOI announced Rajiv Awaas Yojana (RAY) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) in the budget of 2009-10 aimed at promoting a slum-free India within five years and with a focus to accord property rights to slum dwellers.The scheme provides for the states to come out with slum free city plans within the ambit of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and the state departments.The RAY clearly outlines the modalities for slum rehabilitation, reconstruction and funding for the same.The enactment of legislations for property rights to slum dwellers as well as the policy framework and implementation is the responsibility of the states/UTs.The Ministry of Housing & Poverty Alleviation is the apex authority of Government of India at the national level to formulate policies, sponsor and support programmes, coordinate the activities of various Central Ministries, State Governments and other nodal agencies implementing the programme concerning all the issues of urban employment, poverty and housing in the country.MHUPA has issued revised guidelines in 2009 for the review and implementation of IHSDP and BSUP for slum dwellers.

Review of Public Policy for Slum Dwellers
The problem of slums and slum dwellers in India was recognized very late during the planning era.The slums had attained alarming proportions and had started threatening the sustainability of urban life.Although the first scheme for slum clearance was announced as far back as the Second Five Year Plan but a concerted effort to protect the urban areas from environmental degradation, infrastructure breakdown and congestion and provide respectable living conditions to the urban poor was made only in the post reform period, i.e., in the mid-nineties when a comprehensive National Slum Development Programme was launched in 1996.
It has been observed that there are a number of deficiencies in the programmes launched by the GOI and their implementation suffers from several roadblocks.The problems in implementation arise both from the people living in the slums, who lack sensitivity towards the benefits of improvement on the quality of their lives and also the implementing agencies which are almost non-functional.The lack of political will to contain the problem compounds the issue manifold.All the state governments in the country are not taking this problem seriously.Many of them do not use the funds allocated to them by the central government for the specific purpose and the money, thus allocated, lapses.Later when there are review meetings with the states/UTs they complain of shortage of funds for improving the lives of people living in the slums.
There are certain practical issues also which need to be addressed, e.g., in case of many programmes/schemes launched for slum population or their rehabilitation, the beneficiaries are required to contribute a certain percentage of cost of housing/dwelling units, which they are not able to afford.This deprives many beneficiaries of the gain from the government effort as also they remain in the same circumstances even though a lot of public money (through budgetary allocation) is earmarked for improving their lot.Therefore, many such schemes are of no use to the target population.Many a times such funds that come to the states/UTs as financial assistance are either mis-appropriated or are pocketed by people who are not really the target population but enjoy political patronage and clout amongst the slum dwellers and are later 'helpful' in getting votes during the civic, state or national elections.
The focus of the Eleventh Five Year Plan  is on inclusive growth.The Report of the 11 th Five Year Plan  Working Group on Urban Housing(Planning Commission, GOI) with Focus on Slums has reviewed various programmes of the GOI for the slum dwellers.It has been observed that most of the schemes/programmes have only been a partial success both in terms of utilisation of funds as well as meeting the physical targets of providing housing facilities, safe drinking water, sanitation, etc.The latest comprehensive programme for making the nation slum free,i.e., Rajiv Awaas Yojana (RAY) is being reviewed by a committee set up by the GOI under the chairmanship of Deepak Parekh.The committee is to look into the practical applicability of the scheme in order to eliminate the slums in India in a time bound manner.
Despite facing several impediments, the local, state and central governments in India have been successful in partially dealing with the problems of slum dwellers.The data on living conditions and demographic profile of the slum dwellers collected by the NSSO in its 65 th round and compared with its 58 th round highlights the fact that there has been a considerable improvement in the living conditions in the slums and squatters in India over the last one decade.However, the rate at which the slums are growing as a result of unplanned urbanization in the country multiplies the slum problems at a rate much faster than they are resolved or taken care of.

Conclusions
Slums and urban poverty are not problems unique to India alone.They exist in many other parts of the world and are likely to increase at a rapid rate in future as urbanization is increasing at a very fast pace not only in India but all over the world.Migration from rural to urban areas is increasing at a very fast pace , especially , now that agriculture in India is no longer a lucrative proposition.This will lead to urbanization of poverty and the policy makers in India are coming out with solutions but the implementation of the same needs a lot to be desired.Slums are seen as vote banks for the political parties and, due to their vested interests, are allowed to thrive with impunity.According to a study conducted at National Institute of Urban Affairs , "there is evidence of countries successfully reducing slum growth in the last 15 years by making considerable investments in improving slums.Some low or middle-income countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, South Africa and Sri Lanka, have managed to prevent slum formation by anticipating and planning for growing urban populations-by expanding economic and employment opportunities for the urban poor, by investing in low-cost, affordable housing for the most vulnerable groups and by instituting pro-poor reforms and policies that have had a positive impact on low-income people's access to services.Thus, it is possible to prevent slum formation with the right policies and practices."(www.niua.org/Publications/working.../Urban%20Poverty%20Reduction.pdf) There are a number of other examples where slums have either been prevented from growing or the people living there have been provided with all the basic amenities which are necessary for dignified human living.This has happened not only outside India but also in our own country.Certain initiatives like National Slum Dwellers' Federation and Mahila Milan, Mumbai involved the slum dwellers in finding solutions to their problems like identifying land for rehabilitation and also make them a part of capacity building to deal with certain slum problems.What we need in India is a participatory approach wherein all the stakeholders, i.e., the central, state and local governments as well as the people who live in the slums are a part of the entire exercise to legitimize, reduce or remove the slums.No single organization, public or private including Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and Self Help Groups (SHGs) can tackle the menace of such enormous proportions.To achieve 'slum free' India certain prerequisites are necessary:  Building a database of all the existing slums and people living in them. Formal notification or recognition of the slum provides the slum population with an identity. Granting then tenure security is one of the Millennium Development Goals as mentioned in the Report of the Working Group on Urban Housing with Focus on Slums. Involving private sector and using land as a resource for housing and shelter development for slum dwellers. Assured service delivery of all the civic amenities by funding of infrastructure through Public Private Partnership mode.
In India there is a need for a definite policy of integrated urban development where slums are an integral part of all urban projects-public or private.Public Private Partnership mode is the best way to carry on urban development in a manner which does not leave out a section of the society and forces them to settle in illegal urban settlements with a constant fear of eviction.Public authorities can provide the requisite institutional/legal framework and the private partners can invest in such projects which earmark a chunk of land for building low cost houses for the poor or potential slum dwellers.This can, in the long run, prevent creation of more slums.This calls for a national debate and a national policy for urban development.The slums cannot be reduced, let alone, erased from the urban settlements until and unless they become a formal part of the policy of urbanization.Rajiv Awaas Yojana is under review and can become meaningful in achieving the goal of slum free India if all these factors are taken into account.
It may be concluded that the efforts of the GOI , the state governments as well as the ULBs for the improvement of living conditions of a large proportion of urban population living in the slums are showing there results but are not adequate.The programmes targeted at this section of the society need to be made more practical and implemented with more commitment from the public agencies as well as supplemented by the NGOs and SHGs.The massive political interference needs to be curbed if the objective of 'Inclusive Growth' is to be achieved.Intra-city economic and social disparity can only be reduced if all classes of poor are taken care off.Sankhe,S.,Vittal,I(2010) have reported that by 2030,i.e., after two decades from now, 590 million people will live in cities in India-twice the population of United States of America today, there will be 68 million plus cities -Europe has only 35 and $ 1.2 trillion worth of capital investment will be needed to meet projected demand , besides several other needs of the growing urban population to be met.If unbridled growth is allowed, it will lead to urban decay.To create 'inclusive cities' in future there is an urgent need for improving the local government capacity to meet these challenges and ensure that the allocated funds reach the target population.There is a dire necessity for 'good governance' at all levels of the government.The ideal situation can be reached if institutional framework for appointing a regulator for urban development can be worked out.

Table 1 : Slum population as percentage of urban population -Census 2001 State/ Union Territory Slum population as percentage of total urban population State/ Union Territory Slum population as percentage of total urban population
All specified areas in a town or city notified as 'Slum' by State/Local Government and UT Administration under any Act including a 'Slum Act'.All areas recognized as 'Slum' by State/Local Government and UT Administration, Housing and Slum Boards, which may have not been formally notified as slum under any act; A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water.1.1 Slum Population as Percentage of Urban Population: 42.6 million population lived in slums in 2001.This constitutes 15 per cent of the total urban population of the country.Table 1 depicts the slum population as a percentage of urban population state/ union territory (UT) wise

Table 4 : Slum population as percentage of population of cities/towns reporting slums -Census 2001
's Slum Population According to 2001 Census:   42.6million population live in slums in 2001.This constitutes 15 per cent of the total urban population of the country and 22.6 per cent of the urban population of the states/union territories reporting slums.11.2 million of the total slum population of the country are in Maharashtra followed by Andhra Pradesh 5.2, Uttar Pradesh 4.4 and West Bengal 4.1 States/UTs viz Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshdweep have not reported any slum population in their cities/towns.17.7 million slum population has been reported in the 27 cities with million plus population in 2001.Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation with 6.5 million slum dwellers has the highest slum population among all the cities followed by Delhi Municipal Corporation (1.9 million), Kolkata (1.5 million) and Chennai (0.8 million).7.4 million (17.4 per cent) of the total slum population belong to the Scheduled Castes and one million (2.4 per cent) to the Scheduled Tribes.Sex ratio (females per thousand males) of the total slum population is 876 which is lower than 905 for the corresponding non slum urban population.Child Sex Ratio in the age group 0-6 is 919 in the slum population which is higher than 904 for non slum urban population.6 million children in the age group 0-6 have been enumerated in slums.Maharashtra alone accounts for 1.6 million children in slums.Literacy rate in slum areas stands at 73.1 with 80.7 per cent male and 64.4 per cent female literacy against overall non-slum urban literacy rates of 81.0 for total, 87.2 for males and 74.2 for females in the states reporting slums.32.9 per cent slum population has been returned as workers.Male work participation rate is 51.3 and female work participation rate is 11.9 per cent in 2001.The National Sample Survey Office released Report No.534 titled "Some Characteristics of Urban Slums, 2008-09" based on the survey of urban slums conducted in its 65th round.The field work of the nationwide survey was carried out during July 2008 to June 2009.This report is based on the data collected from 365 notified and 365 non-notified slums found in 4738 surveyed urban blocks.Comprehensive data on this subject was last collected by NSSO in its 58th round(July -December 2002).The present report provides key indicators from the 58th round as well, for comparison.This comparison will give a fair idea about the change in the condition of slum dwellers over the last decade.