Factors Responsible for Urbanisation in India

Genel masons for urbanisation in India may be explained

1. Increase in Population: Growth of population is reason fer tunization.
As population grows in excessive proportions, people migrate to urban
centres in search of better avences of life. Increase in population leads
to growth of number of emes and also the sire of cities. Urbanisation
occurring in this type is witnessed in many countries of the world
including India Urban population in India rose by threefold between
1951 and 1991. Increased from 62.4 million in 1951 to 217.2 million in
1901. Urban population grew to 286.2 million in 2001 and to 311.1
million in 2011.
2. Industrialisation: Economic development takes place alung with
industrialization, and there will be growth of trade, commrice and
transport and communications. This motivates people to migrate from
villages to urban parts and depend upon not-apicultural activities
instead of agricultural ones.
3. Specialisation of Occupations: Specialisation of occupations is another
major cause of urbanization. In the present age of specialization,
people show inclination to be engaged in a number of occupations.
Urbanisation takes place as a result of megration of people to urban
centres with the intention of attaining specialization in trade,
commerce, industry, services, etc. Movement of people to other
places for education, training and employment also results in
urbanisation.
4. Growth Centres: Growth centres of the economy lead to urbanization.
Manufacturing and services centres are usually, Concentrated around
cities and surrounding areas. This type of concentration facilitates
them to secure inputs, to employ workers by atracting them from both
nearby and far off place and to the products. With development of
growth centres, villages are transformed into small towns and small
towns gradually become ties
5.
 6. Political Factors: Political factors also lead to urbanization. For
example, capital city of the country or a state gets developed in a
rapid pace. Cities of district centres too grow in the same way. Their
rapid growth is facilitated as a result of concentration in them of
government offices, industries, educational institutions, public utility
departments, etc. People are usually attracted to these centres.
7.
6. Location of Mineral Deposits: Urban centres grow around areas
where deposits of minerals and ores of coal, iron, copper, manganese,
etc, are available in abundant quantity. Since industries could be
established in the places of availability of these minerals and ores,
such places grow into cities owing to development of transport
facilities, communications, markets and so on. In India, we have
examples of industrial centres like Bhilai, Durgapur, Rourkela,
Jamshedpur, etc, getting transformed into big cities.

8. Educational and Cultural Centres: Educational and cultural centres

motivate urbanization. Growth of cities is facilitated in places where
schools, colleges, universities, etc, are located. From ancient days till
today, the story of growth of Varanasi, Taxila, Chennai, Kolkata,
Mumbai, Bangalore and other cities is before us.
9.
8. Migration: Migration of people from rural areas with the purposes
of education, employment, attainment of specialization in occupation,
etc, has proved to be a dominant reason for urbanization.

10. Transport and Communication Facilities: Better scope for

movement of people and business transactions would be available in
places where cheap and easy transport andcommunication facilities
exit. Such places attract people and develop into cites with growth of
trade, industry and business. 10. Growth of Port Towns: Port towns
grow into citiesTrade, commerce and industrial activities are
developed on a rapid scale in such centres. Import-export trade takes

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 place through sach towns. With increase in trade, commerce and
industrial activities, government offices, banking institutions,
insurance companies, ete, get established on a large scale around the
place of these towns. Housing facilities, public utility works and
employment avenues grow voluminously.
11.
12. Boundary Changes: Certain times boundaries of towns get
extended. As urban areas grow and outreach into surrounding areas,
rural parts around it get absorbed in the urban agglomeration.
Satellite towns are merged with main city.
13.
12. Religious Factors: Religious factors too play their role in
urbanisation. Location of big temples in urban areas gradually leads to
increase in population, attraction of devotees, provision of facilities by
the government and so on. Towns grow into cities as a result of this.

14. Partition of the Country: With partition of the country migration

of people may increase to a certain areas or to an existing town. This
factor also leads to urbanisation.
Covid-19 had very serious and deeprooted effects. The mos important of
them may be described as follows.
1 Severe Unemployment Situation: As a result of Covid19, output
stagnated in different sectors and demand declined considerably and
these led to unemployment of an unprecedented scale. Estimates show
that about 270 crore workers are seriously affected across the world due
to Covid-19. By the beginning of the year 2020, ie, by the time Covid-19
pandemic started spreading fast, India experienced unemployment rate of
16.1 percent which was considered to be the highest in the forty five years
period that preceded. After the onset of Covid, the situation aggravated
and reached the level of 24 percent in the month of June of that year.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has come out with the estimation that
by that time 37.3 crore workers in India had undergone loss of 4.05 lakh

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crore rupees. In the week ended on the 3rd of May 2021, unemployment
rate in India rose to 27.1 percent and breached all the earlier records.
In India, about 71 percent of daily wage workers, 23 percent of big
industrialists and 21 percent of high wage employees have lost jobs due to
Covid
2. Wail of Migrant Workers: According to census of India 2011, the number
of migrant workers was about five crore. Certain bemates reveal that their
number has been about nine crore at the baginating of 2020. Their
mumber is growing led by many reasons such as dire poverty, increasing
pepousing led by man jobs Urbanisation and Governance Own states,
attraction of big cities, etc. Pestering and gruesome Corona led to closure
of many industries, stagnation of hotel industry and ruination of
construction activity. No words were enough to describe the wail of
labourers who had migrated to a state from far off places stretching to
thousands of miles to eke out livelihood. It was well nigh impossible for
migrant workers to return to their home states or to native places after
losing jobs as a result of lockdown imposed on the economy. About 119
migrantWorkers in India died due to road and railway accidents and
tiredness. Employment status of migrant workers has not attained The
pre-Covid position.
3. Ruination of Micro, Small and Medium Industries- MSMEs: In the Indian
economy, after agriculture, micro, small and medium industries sector is a
life-saver. They have provided employment to about ten crore low skilled
workers, have been producing about 45 percent of India’s manufacturing
output and contributing about 29 percent to gross domestic product. The
number of these enterprises is about 6.3 crores in India. Owing to ill
effects of Covid-19, about 35 percent of these enterprises have closed
down, and still about 30 percent of the enterprises have reached the state
of closure, not able to withstand losses.
4. Stressfull Economic Growth: Covid has caused economic devastation.
Economic growth has been severely affected. According to the estimates
done by International Monetary Fund, the first lock down imposed in 2020

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has caused loss of Rs. 12.1 Jakh crore. Study conducted by Fitch Ratings
has revealed that economic growth rate in India in the 2020-21 financial
year has Slid to two percent which used to prevail thirty years ago.
Estimates by Crisil and Nomura point out that loss of economic output
caused till 15 May 2020 itself would be 15 lakh crore rupees.Covid-19 led
to decline in industrial output to the extent of about 20 percent, and
investment on fixed assets such as buildings,sarid randwaye has come
down by about 24 percem.
Minery of the Education Secter: Covid-19 has wrougle on the education
sector. Reports by UNESCO sugge 9 percent of the student community
across the world facet the mod difficult situation. Corona virus caused
disastrous effoca on the future of students of 191 countries. As a result of
lockdows imposed in Iridia, about 32 crore students had to experience
finrced leave at homes. Students lost the benefit of classroom teaching
and social communication could not take place among etudents ance
schools and colleges were shut. Many students came under mental stress
since they had to remain confined to four walls at homes for a very long
period. Students studying in the final year of graduation or post-
graduation courses who were aspiring to search for jobs soon after
completion of the course underwent mental agony. Covid gave a big Joit to
earnings of rudents who were pursuing part-time jobs even while
studying.
6. Heavy Rise in Public Expenditure: Covid-19 pandemic necessitated heavy
amount of expenditure for revival of economic activities, fiscal stimulus,
provision of employment, rehabilitation of the bruised economy and so
on. In the end of May 2020 Prime Minister of India announced an
economic revival package of 20 lakh crore rupees. Government of
Karnataka came out with a package of 1,610 crore rupees on 7 May 2020
to come to the rescue of the working class which was in distress after
losing jobs. Many State governments pursued the same type of
measures.Indian Council of Medical Research has been of the opinion that
6.2 percent of the gross domestic product, i.e, amount of about 12.5 lakh

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crore rupees has to be set apart to overcome Covid-19 and related
diseases through intensified public programmes in India.
7. Increase in Poverty and Inequality: Covid-19 has led to rise in poverty.
Reports suggest that about 3.2 crore middleclas people have gone to the
verge of poverty and about 7.5 crope people have fallen below poverty
line. Nevertheless, Covid- 19 has its own contribution in making a few
people richer and weshhy. Certain big industrialists became billionaires. In
the one ygur period of 2020-21, about 0.5 percent billionaires amassed
more wealth and became prosperous. Fifty five persons have newly joined
the list of dollar billionaires (person possessing property of seven and half
thousand crore rupees).
8. Fall in Demand and Postponement of Consumption: Demand for goods
and services declined drastically due to loss of Jobs, deficiency of income-
earning avenues, scarcit; of money, and other reasons. Fall in demand for
industrial products, machineries, eateries, fruits and vegetables was
estimated to be about 30 percent. People were forced to postpone
consumption of buying of commodities for months together owing to
absence of purchasing power, non-availability of the commodity or
difficulty in procuring the commodity because of imposition of lockdown in
the economy and soon. Purchase or consumption which could not be done
was accomplished at a future day in the form of revenge. Hence, such a
trend was cailed by the name of ‘revenge corein sion”.