The Problem of Urbanization in India and Its Solution

The process of evolution and development of cities in India like the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa have been seen in the world from the ancient time. These cities support the fact that urbanization is the result of the problem of population. In lieu of economic development the importance of agriculture has become less than the Industries and Services and hence the employment in rapidly increasing. The villagers are migrating towards the cities to find a substitute to their Agricultural Practices. As a result of industrial revolution, the ratio of urbanization has increased even in developed countries. As per Economical Survey by Classical Economists, the migration of village to city acts as a catalyst to the economic development. Modern Economists also argue that this migration creates imbalance of economic, social and basics in economy and problem of urbanization. Since the villages are becoming absolutely vacant and cities are becoming overcrowded and rich in population, urbanization has become a serious matter of concern.

Different Economists give different meaning of Urbanization. According to Eldridge, ―Urbanization is a concept which shows the centralization of population.‖ According to Ottis, ―Urbanization means the increase in the living population in cities.‖ According to Bergel, ―Urbanization is a kind of process in which villages are transformed into cities that is the process of evolution and development of cities". According to the Census of India, 1961, in an area where there is municipality is known as an urban area irrespective of it having features of Urban Area or not.

According to census in India at every 10 years the ratio of population of cities is as under.

Urban Population (%) 1901 89.16 10.84

1911 89.71 10.29 1921 88.22 11.18 1931 88.06 11.94 1941 86.14 13.86 1951 82.71 17.29 1961 82.03 17.97 1971 80.09 19.91 1981 76.66 23.34 1991 74.28 25.72 2001 72.32 27.78 2011 68.84 31.15

Source: Census of India.

particularly due to economic planning the process of urbanization has become fast and so there is a rapid increase in the urban population.

Various economic and non-economic factors are responsible for urbanization which include limited chances of employment in villages, high salary in cities in comparison to villages, the attraction towards city life for villagers, poverty and craze for the imitation, high growth rate of population, social, geographical and educational factors etc.

The use of modern technology is increased in cities in the industrial fields. Urban unemployment is increasing since the figure of employees is increasing more than the figure of employment and hence the problem of habitat emerges as a result of which people live in filthy Chawls, roads, Slum areas which give birth to theft, loot, prostitution etc. Also due to industrial development and increasing vehicles the pollution of air, water and noise is increasing in cities.

The chief responsible factor for urbanization is limited employment in villages. More and more employment can be created in rural areas and there should be enough scope of development of agricultural and rural industries, forests and rural skills in rural areas so as to provide employment as well as deteriorate the migration towards the cities.

The main source of income and employment of villagers is based on farming. But unfortunately, even after so many years of Economic Planning, the irrigation facility to the useful land for farming is not being provided. It is also difficult to live in draughty conditions where the farming is based only on Monsoon. If development is made in agriculture in rural areas and if its benefits reaches villagers, there will definitely be deterioration in urbanization.

With the development in agriculture in villages, some business based activities on agriculture should be initiated like animal husbandry, poultry, sowing trees that can provide employment to the villagers in addition to agriculture. This will also increase their

If we can use the natural resources of villages like land, water, jungles, human wealth, animals etc. in a sufficient way, then the chances for employment can be increased and this will decrease urbanization.

The scarcity of city like facilities in villages is one of the responsible reasons of migration. A village young man if comes to city for higher education is not ready to go back to his village due to the lack of facilities. Once such people get settled in cities are not even ready to get marriage proposals from the villages for all the obvious reasons. So the facilities like water, habitat, roads, primary education, primary health centers, 24 hours electricity etc. should be made available in villages. If the modern facilities like multiplex theatres, entertainment arenas are provided in villages, it will surely boost employment and reduce the gap between cities and villages which will also solve the problem of urbanization.

Urbanization is a serious problem for a developing country like India. Urbanisation leads to various some economic and social problems in cities. The only solution is to develop the villages and provide facilities equivalent to cities which will result to deterioration in urbanization. The report of United Nations 2008 says that if the population of cities will be 50 percentage due to over population in India, the condition of cities will become complex. So, it is necessary to develop villages and provide adequate facilities.

Agarwal, Siddharth (2011). The State of Urban Health in India: Comparing the Poorest quartile to the rest of the Urban Population in Selected States and Cities. Environment and Urbanisation, 23(1), p. 14. Batra, Lalit (2009). A Review of Urbanisation and Urban Policy in Post Independent India. Working Paper Series - Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawahar Lal University, New Delhi. http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-esults/paper2/data_files/india/Rural_Urban_2011.pdf

Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur