India : Urbanization (Part – II)

Due to the presence of traders and manufacturers, the dividing line between village and town begins to be passed and the villages are being transformed into the towns and cities, so the statement is correct. On the other hand, traders and manufacturers depend on the resources of the villages but not completely, thus the reason is incorrect. Hence, the option (c) is the correct answer.

The occupational characteristics of the population are reflected in the working force, dependency, burden, employment and unemployment, etc. Therefore, the occupational structure of the population expresses the distribution of working population in various occupations.

Urbanization refers to a process that brings about dynamic changes in the domicile format. This change basically occurs in areas of population, size, structure and occupations. Occupationally, non-primary (agricultural) works take precedence in the urban inhabited areas. In developing countries like India, due to rural-urban relocation, the process of urbanization has gained more strength. Most of the cities in India were initially villages, which transformed into towns and then became cities due to the centralization of services. The Census Department of the Government of India has classified the urban centres into 6 tiers on the basis of population.

1. Tier-1 cities    -  100,000 and above population

2. Tier-2 cities   -   50,000 to 99,999 population

3. Tier-3 cities   - 20,000 to 49,999 population

4. Tier-4 cities    - 10,000 to 19,999 population

5. Tier-5 cities    - 5000 to 9,999 population

6. Tier-6 cities    -   less than 5000 population

Cities in India are divided into 6 classes based on population. Out of these, cities of class IV, V and VI are included in the category of small towns (population less than 20000).

As per Census 1991, the growth rate of population was the highest in class (tier) I towns, but as per Census 2001, it was highest in class III towns.

According to the Census 2001, the percentage of the population of class I cities of India was 62.32 percent of the total urban population. While, according to the Census 2011 (provisional figures), the total number of class I cities (Class 1 UAs/Town) is 468. The total population of these cities is 264.9 million, which is about 70 percent of the total urban population.

Tamil Nadu had recorded the highest (17.17%) increase in urbanization ratio during 1961-2001. According to the Census 2001, the average size of a city centre in India was around 55,400. The highest number (1,560) of urban centres were in the tier-IV, while about 3 percent of total urban population of the country was inhabited in tier-V and VI cities.

As per the question period, all the given statements were correct.

Among the given options, Uttar Pradesh has largest number of towns in India.

As per the 2011 Census, there were 468 category I cities in India where about 70.02 percent of total urban population of the country resides. Hence, Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is also correct as per the 2011 Census (P), there were total 53 Urban Agglomerations (UAs) with million plus population each in 2011 in the country where about 42.6 percent of total urban population of the country resides.