The Rural-Urban Divide

Cities take up less than two percent of the Earths land surface, but are home to almost half of the

worlds population and utilize seventy-five percent of the Earths resources. In 1998 47 percent of the worlds

population lived in cities as opposed to 29 percent in 1950. Globalization is leading to increased urbanization.

According to the World Bank urban areas in developing countries account for an estimated 60 - 80 percent of

GDP. Urban populations mainly have greater access to water and sanitation services, but an estimated quarter

to a half of those populations live in slums or squatter settlements. People living under those overcrowded and

impoverished conditions increases the likelihood of epidemics like tuberculosis, diarrhea and other contagious

diseases (Harrison 2000).

Introduction

After China, India is the second most populous country, it is home to 16.34% of the world's population

and has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 2.5 trillion (CIA.gov 2002). And an estimated sixty percent of the

GDP is attributable to the urban sector. India has an income per capita of $404. This is low as the global

average of income per capita is $3535. Similarly, thirty-five percent of its population lives below the dollar-a-

day poverty line (Mathews 2001) By the end of 2002 Indias debt to GDP ratio was around 65%. This is in

comparison to 140% for Japan, Argentina at 133%, Egypt and Turkey at 99%. India also has a fiscal deficit that

is among the highest in the world but it also has one of the highest growth rates. As a developing economy with

a growth rate of 6% India can afford to have a high deficit. Similar to the development of European countries,

which during their growth stage ran high deficits. India is witness to massive migration. During the Partition

more than fifty percent of the refugees from Pakistan settled in urban areas in India (Mathews 2001). India has

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a population of 1,045,845,226 and it is projected to have a population of 1.5 billion by the year 2050 (See

Chart1).

The size of India is slightly more than one-third the size of the United States yet it is home to over three times

as many people as the United States (CIA.gov 2002). As India is a developing country its urban areas are full,

beyond capacity. In contrast, urban areas in United States have seen a reversal as people - due to crime in urban

areas - have relocated to the suburbs. In India despite all the issues that are prevalent in urban areas city life is

still better than life in a village (Mathews 2001).

Rural to urban migration is a contributing factor to the growth of the urban populations. As in the case

of the city of Bombay (within the state of Maharashtra), which during Partition witnessed a lot of in-migration.

An estimated fifteen million people flowed into and resettled into the urban areas of India. It has had continued

1
Chart can be found online at <www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/Papers/gkh1/images/pop_1.gif>

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in-migration from rural areas as well (Mathews 2001). Demographically, Bombay has one of the highest

population densities in the world. It houses 160,000 people per square mile. As evident it is a highly, urban

city. In addition it is also the financial powerhouse of India. It is home to the country's richest people as well as

the biggest population of slum dwellers in the Asia (McNeil 1995). As evident in India there is a contradiction

with increasing growth rates and increasing poverty. Although population is a contributing factor the cause of

poverty is the uneven distribution of resources by the state namely the rural-urban divide in resource allocation.

The Rural-Urban Divide.

Today 74.7 percent of the population lives in rural areas and 24.3 percent inhabit urban areas. In urban

areas there is a heavy concentration of telephones, televisions and doctors. As 70 percent of the countrys

population mainly in rural areas lack access to primary health care the worst affected is the elderly, young

women and children. Major environmental issues in rural areas are deforestation, soil erosion, overgrazing,

desertification, and water pollution from runoff of agricultural pesticides. In urban areas there are issues of

water pollution from sewage and air pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions. India is also

prone to natural disasters such as droughts, flash floods, severe thunderstorms and earthquakes (Mathews 2001).

Although India boasts more than 200 universities mainly in urban areas and has one of the largest

educational systems it has failed to wipe out illiteracy. For those that are educated there are no jobs as more

than 40 million people are unemployed. India has the largest share of illiterate women in the world. The poor

educational status of the girl-child increases the fertility rate, maternal and infant mortality, and malnutrition in

the family. Rights of women to land and property are rarely recognized. This increases the risk of poverty to

women and their families and increases poverty overall as women and children makeup two-thirds of the

population. (Mathews 2001)

One of the major factors affecting fertility rates in India is the illiteracy of women. India has a total

fertility rate of 2.98 children born per woman. The literacy rate (defined as those age 15 and over that can read

and write) is 65.5% for males and 37.7% for females. The infant mortality rate is 61.47 deaths per 1000 live
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births. The life expectancy for males is 62.55 years and for females 63.93 (CIA.gov 2002). During the 1960s

the average for the total fertility rate of developing countries (including India) was six children born per women.

It is currently close to three children born per woman. Life expectancy has risen over the years as well. This

indicates that India has gone through a demographic transition from low deaths and high births to lower deaths

and fewer births (Mathews 2001).

Population Control

According to a July 1998 issue of the Hindustan Times the issue of water scarcity is framed in

Malthusian terms. As in referring to Indias population they state If our population continues to grow as it is

nowit is certain that a major part of the country would be in the grip of a severe water famine in 10 to 15

years. Only a bitter dose of compulsory family planning can save the coming generation from the fast-

approaching Malthusian catastrophe. (Brown 1999:25). This quote reflects the motivation for family planning

and population control in India namely resource scarcity. It is important to review the different directions that

the family planning movement has taken in India in order to better understand the current situation.

In 1914, Margaret Sanger of New York launched the advocacy of birth control. This spread to

developing countries namely India and Mexico during the 1920s. In 1947, India was a newly independent

country and had to adjust to the massive in-migration due to the Partition of an estimated 15 million refugees.

In 1952, India was the first to adopt a national family planning program and a founding member in the

International Planned Parenthood Foundation. During the sixties the development of the oral contraceptive

the pill and the IUD caused enthusiasm for making contraceptives available to all countries. At this time the

central government introduced method-specific targets and state programs were required to fulfill these targets

down to the lowest administrative level, and the targets were considered an incentive for family planning

workers to do their job. Local health workers were ultimately responsible for achieving targets, and failure to

do so often led to serious salary or job consequences. Due to pressure to achieving the targets, health workers

often over reported levels of use or coerced couples into accepting sterilization (Seltzer 2002). This was the
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period before the Green Revolution when Indias food production levels were unable to feed the population and

they were dependent on food imports from the United States under the PL 480 program. The United States at

this time accounted for 7.5 percent of the world population and produced 23 percent of the worlds food output

(Mathews 2001).

Due to the Green Revolution India was able to have substantial gains in grain production yet these gains

were undercut by the increase in population growth that left many people with the bare subsistence amount of

food and increasing malnutrition (Brown 1999). Over time Indias population policy evolved into a single-

method program namely, sterilization, because it was a long-term and effective method. This resulted in

elimination or gross reduction in choice of methods. During the "emergency" period of 1975-77, the Indian

government increased incentives, in the form of monetary compensation, to individuals undergoing sterilization.

State officials have also used ethically dubious methods to increase rates of sterilization. For example they have

threatened to withhold pay from schoolteachers who did not consent to be sterilized. Even after the emergency

period and until the early 1990s the government has mainly promoted sterilization. In 1992, the Indian

government admitted that the program had failed and not reached its goals because of central planning and

target setting. Targets were officially abandoned in 1996 and a community-based approach has been promoted.

Today many countries have made national family planning a priority with aims to reduce fertility rates and

population growth. The government of India currently has demographic goals that include overall population

stabilization, but a number of states have adopted official population policies with goals of reducing population

growth and fertility, increasing the contraceptive prevalence rate, and reducing the infant and maternal mortality

(Seltzer 2002)

According to the Government of Indias National Population Policy of 2000, it hopes to achieve goals of

reducing fertility through promotional and motivational measures that emphasize quality of life, rather than

through numerical targets for the use of specific contraceptive methods. In addition the policy also addresses

needs for basic reproductive and child health services, keeping girls in school longer, and raising the age at

which girls marry from 18 to 20 years (Seltzer 2002). A more integrated approach taking into account the

various dynamics of the issue would lead to a more appropriate and balanced way of dealing with the issue.
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This is similar to the issue of poverty in India which cannot be dealt with while there is a continual neglect of

rural areas. The emergence of the disparity between rural and urban areas is evident in the trajectory of urban

development.

Urbanization Past and Present

During the colonization of India by the British, industrialization was not encouraged. Yet some

industrial enclaves did develop namely Bombay where textile mills were established and Jamshedpur where the

Tata iron and steel mills were built. During colonialism power was a private industry and the British helped

wealthy Parsi industrialists namely the Tatas overcome peasant resistance and acquire land for their

hydroelectric projects in the Maharashtra Western Ghats. The Tatas sold the power to Bombay consumers and

made a good profit. Water pollution levels were still low during the period of colonialism due to low levels of

urbanization and industrial development (Gadgil 1995).

Following independence mobilization of water resources was seen as key to increasing agricultural

productivity and to supply electrical power to the rapidly growing urban centers. As urban centers grew and

industries developed water was also seen as a way to disperse waste.

Post independence as there was a lot of unemployment and the agricultural sector was not that lucrative. India

began to industrialize, to add value to resources on its own instead of exporting raw materials. The state created

an environment conducive to industrialists by creating a sheltered market and permitting the charging of higher

prices than was internationally competitive. Once the environment for industrialization had been established it

was easier for industrialists to produce capital-intensive instead of labor-intensive products. Therefore despite

having a big portion of the population unemployed labor-intensive methods of industrialization were not

utilized.

There was a concentration of capital-intensive activities in a few areas namely in Bombay, Baroda,

Madras, Calcutta and Coimbature. These centers have taken up the majority of government expenditure for

provisions of water, power, transport, and communication as well as food subsidies. Industrialists have
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benefited from manipulating the state by bribing politicians. This has led to an inefficient industry that has no

commitment to sustainable development or maintaining environmental standards. India's economy can be

characterized as a high cost-low quality economy. As the cities have attracted the bulk of government

expenditure while villagers continue to migrate to cities as their areas have been largely neglected. Despite

resource scarcity and no available space, life in overcrowded cities even for the poor is better than living in rural

areas that lack access to water and comparatively less employment opportunities. (Gadgil 1995).

During the 1990's there were economic reforms put in place to attract foreign direct investment by

reducing regulation for certain sectors and liberalizing capital flows. The liberalization did not help the situation

as cities continued to grow and the objectives of poverty alleviation and implementing rural area infrastructure

were largely overlooked. According to Rural Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu the continuation of

"totally skewed and lop-sided development" (Choudhury 2001:2) would lead to increased rural to urban

migration. In addition "this will further strain urban infrastructure and put a brake on all-around economic

development. Government and Industry must focus on neglected Bharat" (Choudhury 2001:2) This explains

the fact that the agricultural sector and mainly rural development has been primarily overlooked by the state

despite having most of the population living in rural areas. Therefore people in rural areas have no choice but

to migrate to urban areas like Bombay. In addition to in-migration there is also out-migration or immigration

mainly by qualified professionals that takes place.

India today is seen as one of the major sources of immigrant labor in developed countries. The main

areas in the past have been science and medicine. Individuals who have attained advanced degrees in Indian

Universities have been able to migrate to industrial countries such as the United States as advanced and highly

specialized labor. Recently there has been a major trend in information technology and Indians have

immigrated as computer professionals. The imigration of Indians is due to the high rates of unemployment in

the country. There are negative impacts on health due to immigration. In the United States there in one Indian

doctor per 1500 Americans where as in India there is one doctor per 2500 Indians. In addition there are more

Indian psychiatrists practising in the United States than in India. (Mathews 2001) As evident migration flows,

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unemployment and population are all related. These factors also tie into issues of environmental degradation

and the health impact of pollution.

Inadequate Access to Resources & Coastal Pollution

Bombay has followed a development path along the north south axis. Its development began in the

south until the government due to an increased concentration of industries decided to stop new developments in

the south and direct it north. There is a train system that goes from the south to the north. Each day more than

five million people commute by train and another five million commute by bus. An estimated 300 people

migrate into the city each day and more that fifty percent of the inhabitants live in slums. Families settle near

train tracks because the land is available land that enables them to be close to a mode of transportation. It is

estimated that at least one child per day is killed by trains running through squatter settlements as close as ten

feet to railroad tracks (McNeil 1995). In addition to issues of safety that can be hazardous there are also issues

of disease and inadequate preventive services.

Slum dwellers live in tenements that are on average 90 to 180 square feet in size. Almost all the family

members work and their incomes are close to the national average of $440. But as they live under unstable

conditions and are reliant on the market for their basic needs life is costlier and therefore there is a maintenance

and continuation of poverty. In the past years the rate of death due to air-borne diseases such as Tuberculosis

has been outpacing the increase of in population. This is primarily prevalent among the poor as they live in

highly congested conditions. In addition to Tuberculosis there are other respiratory ailments as well. Bronchitis

and Asthma are the second most fatal respiratory diseases after Tuberculosis. The compounding factors that

make the diseases more virulent are a lack of proper sanitation facilities and water scarcity. There was a survey

done of Bombay that found that in 1998 Bombay needed 500,000 public restrooms and it had only 200

(Mathews 2001). The high prevalence and consequent mortality due to these diseases is a direct effect of the

lack of sanitary facilities leading to a spreading of unsanitary conditions and uncontrolled industrial production

and commercial activity (Crook 1996).

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 The state of Maharashtra is home to 78.94 million people. The main industries are textiles, electronics,

chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides, vegetable products and soaps. Most of these industries are concentrated

near or around the city of Bombay. Urban sprawl and industrialization are the biggest threats to the coastal

ecosystem. Since before the inception of the state the ocean had been used as a sink to dump wastes of all

kinds. Today fifty percent of the worlds population lives in coastal areas. There will be an increase of a billion

in the urban population of the world by the year 2020. The coastal city of Bombay has the highest population

density in the world. The island city of Bombay is a highly urbanized industrial center of India. The high

population of this city contributes to the industrial sewage that is dumped into the coast on a regular and

continual basis. The rapid urbanization and industrialization within coastal regions has led to the formation of

slums that lead to further degradation of the coastal environment (Sharma 2000).

During a popular festival in Bombay for the deity Ganesh there is a ritual immersion of a plaster and

paint version of the God into the ocean. The festival is a ten-day ritual and on the last day people make their

way to the ocean to "return" the God to its original dwelling in nature by sending it off into the ocean. This

effects the ecosystem of the water. According to environmentalist Bittu Sahgal, as the paint that seeps into the

ocean "within 24 hours you get massive fish deaths form the toxins in the paint" (Bittu Sahgal as cited in Bearak

2001). While the World Wide Fund for Nature has issued an "urgent appeal" to stop the practice of immersion.

The ritual continues, as it is similar to asking Americans to stop chopping Evergreens during Christmas time.

According to proponents of the festival, pollution caused by Hindus commemorating the festival is negligible

compared to the other sources of pollution. The factories deposit nickel, cadmium, and sulfur into the ocean. In

addition to the industrial pollution slum dwellers that live along the coast contribute human waste as well

(Bearak 2001). Urbanization impacts the designation of natural areas as well. The growth in population of

Bombay has overtaken the Borivali National Park. The city of Bombay is projected to grow another 60 percent

in the next 20 years, and will continue to overtake more distant areas (Brown 1999). As evident the issues of

poverty, population, and pollution are all inter-related. Therefore in order to come to a viable way of dealing

with these issues an integrative approach is important.

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Conclusion

Although population is a contributing factor the cause of poverty is the uneven distribution of resources

by the state namely the rural urban divide. A good example of a state that has achieved equal rights among men

and women and has a higher standard of living is the Southern state of Kerala. Where despite it being one of

the poorest states in the countries it has through greater and equal access to healthcare and increased literacy

achieved better standards of living than richer states in India. Increased access to health care and literacy

among the people is evidently a clear way to improve standards of living. Over the years upon reaching the

consensus that population growth is an impediment to economic development, the Indian government has

implemented national population policies. These policies through governmental pressures have resulted in over

reported or coercive sterilizations. And have ultimately failed to deal with the population issue. Currently India

is seeking more cooperative and community-based methods to attain its population objectives. As the above

methods show narrow focus whether it is toward population policy or urban planning does not work. In order to

achieve population policy objectives an integrative framework is crucial. Also in urban planning it is important

to take all the parts of society into consideration for poverty alleviation. The trajectory of urban development

has been highly one sided and uneven as the industrialists and the politicians form an alliance and benefit at the

expense of the masses. It is imperative to look at the issues of resource distribution and pollution on the

national level. In India today air and water pollution are at their highest levels. According to a recent World

Bank estimate pollution in India causes 2 million deaths and costs $10 million annually. There are high levels

of toxicity in the air of 28 major cities in India. The effects of air pollution and lack of sanitation are primarily

affecting the slums where 35% of the urban population live. In addition to air pollution, water pollution is

another major issue. One out of four Indians lacks access to safe and clean water and ninety percent of water

resources are polluted. The availability of water has declined by two thirds over the last 50 years. By the year

2010, half of all Indians will have only 5 gallons of water at their disposal. Nearly 10 percent of all the people

with AIDS are in India and AIDS is spreading quickly in big cities like Bombay and Delhi (Mayur 2001).

Kerala is an outlier among the poor, overpopulated and resource deprived states of India. But it is important to

recognize what worked for Kerala.

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 In order for an improvement in the living conditions for the masses in the country it is key that the

government make the masses a priority. Poverty alleviation has to be the primary aim at the state and national

level. Every policy must work towards this aim in one way or another. As history has shown a disregard for

the poor coupled with self serving policies leads to a worse situation for everyone. If the policy makers dont

care about the environment they are living in they should consider the fate of future generations as the living

conditions in India are unsustainable for most people whether they live in urban or rural areas. The highly

uneven distribution of resources in urban areas is evidence of what the state has continually promoted. The

industrialists and politicians have formed and alliance and usurped the resources of the masses. In urban areas

resources are readily accessible only to the few who are of the industrial class and/or politicians. While the

rural areas continue to be neglected. It is hoped that the new population policy is truly an integrated effort

which emphasizes education and choices for the girl/woman. If I were to devise policy my priorities would be

as follows:

1) I would bridge the gap between the rural and the urban by funding much needed rural infrastructure such

as roads, plumbing, and sanitation facilities. I would get much needed basics like water to remote areas

where it would be most needed.

2) Access to healthcare is another crucial element of improving the quality of life for people. Making

distribution a priority is key and the main impediment to improving the living conditions of people.

Effective distribution of health resources especially to those that most need it (those most at risk) would

work to prevent most major epidemics.

3) I would put in place stringent anti-pollution laws for industry.

a. Conservation areas and no dumping laws for the ocean.

b. If an industry is inefficient it will be shut down and the space that the companies/factories

occupied will be transferred to housing and or other project that would increase social welfare

especially work towards poverty alleviation at the local, state and national levels

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 The only obstacles to such an approach would be if those that have the authority to put these policies in

place are apathetic to the current situation and decide to continue to formulate policies that are highly lop-sided

in favor of the privileged few.

It is interesting to note that prior to liberalization, international financial organizations such as the World

Bank and the International Monetary Fund heavily supported state owned industries through aid. And also were

proponents of liberalization during the 1990s (Bhalla 1995). In achieving policy objectives it is also important

to look critically at the role of international organizations - whether they are actually impeding or enabling us

from reaching those goals. As it is important that the main aim of the policy, poverty alleviation, does not get

lost. India's current trend of liberalization has not benefited poverty alleviation. In fact it has increased the

number of people who have fallen below the poverty line (Bhalla 1995). Therefore would a more globalized

India actually be a good thing?

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List of References:

1) Bearak, Barry. (2000) "Discarded Hindu God Does Not Bless India's Water. " New York Times, Sept.

3, 2000.

2) Bhalla, A.S (1995) Recent Economic Reforms in China and India, Asian Survey

(Vol. 35, Issue 6) June 1995.

3) Author Unknown (2002) CIA World Factbook India, Central Intelligence Agency available online at

<www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/in.html>

4) Choudhury, Uttara (2001) India's 660,000 villages beyond the reach of economic reforms. Agence

France-Presse January 18, 2001.

5) Crook, Nigel; Singh, Bhanwar and Ramasubban, Radhika. (1996) War on Disease Bombays

Survival Kit. The Health Library for People available online at <www.healthlibrary.com/reading/war/>

6) Gadgil, M, and Guha, R. (1995) Ecology and Equity - the use and abuse of nature in

comteporary India United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

7) Harrison, P. & Pearce, F. (2000) AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment. American Association

for the Advancement of Science. University of California Press: Berkeley

8) Mayur, Rashmi (2001) "Indias Environmental Challenges." The Futurist May/June 2001.

9) Mathews, Mohan. (2001) India Facts and Figures, Apt Books.

10) McNeil, Mary (1995) "Bombay: One City-Two Worlds." The Urban Age - The Human

Environment of Cities, June 1995.

11) Seltzer, Judith. (2002) The Origins and Evolution of Family Planning Programs in

Developing Countries. The Rand Organization available online at

<http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1276/>

12) Sharma, Vinod K. (2000) Environmental Problems of Coastal Areas in India, Bookwell Press - New

Delhi

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