Changing definition of Rural-Urban areas in India
The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has suggested changes in the definition of rural-urban areas in India.
EAC-PM has released a working paper titled ‘What is Urban/Rural India? The paper suggests that the government should adopt a more dynamic approach to define rural-urban areas.
Current definition of rural and urban settlements
As of 2017, any settlement that is not considered ‘urban’ is automatically considered ‘rural’.
There are two types of urban settlements-
- Administratively Urban Settlements: These are settlements that are governed by an Urban Local Body (ULB).
- Urban settlements on the basis of census: These are such settlements-
Whose population is more than 5000, whose 75 percent of the male population works in non-agricultural sector, and whose population density is 400 persons per sq. KM or more.
Problems related to the current definition of settlements –
- The present classification is proving inadequate to capture the increasing pace and extent of urbanization in India.
- Panchayats in real urban areas are not competent in terms of human resources.
- The pace of conversion of Rural Administrative Panchayats into ULBs is very slow. Due to this, wrong standards of services are applied.
- In addition, local public goods (drinking water etc.) are also not adequately available.
Solutions offered by EAC-PM
- “Trigger mechanism” should be adopted. With the fulfillment of the prescribed conditions, the rural settlements will automatically become urban settlements.
- Ministries should use the census and other indicators related to settlements to determine the definition of rural settlement that best suits their program objectives.
Rural Local Bodies:
- Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) are a system of rural local self-government in India.
- Panchayati Raj Institutions were given constitutional status through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.
- This Act added a new Part-IX and a new Eleventh Schedule A to the Constitution of India.
Urban Local Bodies:
- Urban local bodies have been established with the objective of democratic decentralisation.
- There are eight types of urban local bodies in India – Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Notified Area Committee, Town Area Committee, Cantonment Board, Township, Port Trust, Special Purpose Agency.
- In the year 1992, the 74th Amendment Act related to Urban Local Government was introduced by PV Narasimha Rao’s government which came into force on June 1, 1993.
- By this Part IX-A and 12th Schedule were added to the Constitution.
Source – Business Standard
