Question

Discuss the basis of defining an urban area as adopted by the Census of India.

Answer 1

According to the Census of India, an urban area is defined based on two main categories: statutory towns and census towns. Statutory towns are those places which have a municipality, corporation, cantonment board, or a notified town area committee and are officially recognised as urban by law, regardless of their population size or occupational structure. On the other hand, census towns are identified based on specific criteria: the place must have a minimum population of 5,000, at least 75% of the male working population should be engaged in non-agricultural activities, and the population density must be at least 400 persons per square kilometre. These criteria ensure that urban classification considers both administrative recognition and actual demographic and occupational features.