Plans afoot for urban slums survey in 2027

New Delhi: The statistics and programme implementation ministry is planning to conduct a nationwide survey on urban slums in 2027, aimed at capturing detailed information on the living conditions of residents in these settlements.

The survey, to be conducted more than a decade after the previous exercise, will provide insights into the number of slums and households, access to electricity, drainage facilities, garbage disposal system, roads, housing quality and drinking water. It will also assess whether conditions in these areas have improved over the years, which would also help in policymaking.

"We have surveys planned for this and next year, with a survey on urban slums scheduled for 2027," said a government official, who did not wish to be identified.


slum is a residential area that may be officially notified by authorities or exist as a non-notified settlement, consisting of overcrowded, poorly built houses, with inadequate sanitation and basic services.

The first survey on urban slums was conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) between July 1976 and June 1977, while the most recent was carried out during July-December 2012.

According to 2012 survey, India has 33,510 urban slums, with Maharashtra accounting for 23%, followed by Andhra Pradesh (13.5%), West Bengal (11.8%), Gujarat (8.7%) and TN (7.1%).

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