Demographic characteristics of slum population in Haryana

Abstract

The slums of Haryana are an emerging concern for the State as it progresses on the route to progress and development under the fast paced urbanisation that has changed its rural and urban landscape. The current research is a pioneering effort to link the presence of the town size and function with the emergence, sustenance and growth of a slum associated with them. Methodologically the researcher has used the mixed method approach to obtain the requisite data through the primary and secondary data. The case studies of three sized slums of Large, Medium and Small towns have been attempted to provide the vital inputs on the status of the slums on a number of indicators. The secondary data based on the 2011 Census has been addressed to examine the demographic parameters as well as the socio-economic attributes of the population. The adult sex ratio, the child sex ratio (0-6 years old), literacy rate (Total, Male and Female) as also situation of the Scheduled Caste population within towns have been used to present the variant positioning of the Large, Medium and Small towns in Haryana State. The researcher has attempted a cross comparison of the slum as well as the non-slum population to understand the nexus of the elements that contribute to the growth and development of the different towns and consequently the size segregations that lend to the differentials in making them the Large, Medium and Small towns in Haryana. This study is unique in having a totally different perspective on evaluation of the slum vis-a-vis their size and function. newline