GeographyCBSE Class 12 · Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems

Rural-Urban Migration and Problems of Slums (Class 12 Geography, India: People and Economy, Chapter 9)

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Rural-urban migration is the flow of people from villages to cities, driven by high demand for labour in cities, few jobs in villages and uneven development. Poor migrants who cannot afford housing settle in slums, which lack water, toilets and ventilation. Slum dwellers work in low-paid unorganised jobs, face disease and social exclusion.

Notice how push from the village and pull of the city lead poor migrants into slums, where water, income and health problems follow.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums

Why this topic matters. Rural-urban migration and slums are two linked sections of the last chapter. Examiners use Ramesh's case and the Dharavi extract as source-based items, and ask the causes of migration and the problems of slums as 3 or 5 marks.

1. Rural-urban migration.

Causes: high demand for labour in urban areas, low job opportunities in rural areas and an unbalanced pattern of development between urban and rural areas.
Because smaller and medium cities offer little work, poor people often bypass them and go straight to the mega cities for livelihood.
Urban population grows through natural increase (births exceed deaths), net in-migration and sometimes reclassification of rural settlements as urban.
NCERT notes that 55 per cent of the world's population lives in cities and the share is estimated to reach 68 per cent by 2050, which will pressure governments to provide infrastructure and quality of life.

2. Case study: Ramesh.

Ramesh is a welder on contract; he moved with the contractor to Surat, Mumbai, Gandhinagar, Bharuch, Jamnagar and other places, and remits Rs 20,000 a year to his father in the village.
The money pays for daily consumption, healthcare and children's schooling, and partly for agriculture, land and houses. His family's living standard improved.
Fifteen years earlier three brothers and their families lived on three acres, in debt. Ramesh left school after ninth standard. He first went to Ludhiana (a woollen factory, Rs 20 a day in 1988), then to Surat, where he learnt welding.
Lessons: poor, semi-illiterate migrants end up in menial, low-wage informal jobs; wages do not allow the family to live with them, so spouses stay behind and the migration stream is dominated by males. Ramesh also bears the pain of separation.

3. Problems of slums.

Urban India is differentiated: at one extreme are farm houses and high-income localities with wide roads, streetlights, water, sanitation and parks; at the other are slums, jhuggi-jhopari clusters and shanty colonies.
Slum dwellers are those forced to migrate in search of livelihood who cannot afford housing because of high rent and land cost; they occupy environmentally incompatible and degraded areas.
Slums are residential areas of the least choice: dilapidated houses, poor hygiene and ventilation, lack of drinking water, light and toilets; open defecation, unregulated drainage and overcrowded narrow streets are health and socio-environmental hazards.
Most slum people work in low-paid, risky, unorganised sectors, so they are undernourished and prone to disease, and cannot afford proper schooling for children. Poverty makes them vulnerable to drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism, escapism, apathy and finally social exclusion.
The Swachh Bharat Mission is part of the urban renewal mission launched by the Government of India to improve quality of life in urban slums.

4. Dharavi. NCERT's extract (Seabrook, 1996) describes Dharavi as Asia's largest slum, with one main road, lanes too narrow even for a bicycle, rented single rooms for large families, garbage and stagnant water, yet a place where ceramics, embroidery, leather goods, garments and metalwork are made. It shows that slums serve the city's wealth even as the rich shun them.

5. Rural-urban divide. The book says about 69 per cent of India's population was rural in 2011, and that rural and urban areas have grown into separate cultural, social, political, economic and technological divides.

Graph checklist. Draw a village-to-city arrow with push factors (few jobs) at the village end and pull factors (labour demand) at the city end, then a box of slum problems.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

Slums are residential areas of the least choice, dilapidated houses, poor hygienic conditions, poor ventilation, lack of basic amenities, like drinking water, light and toilet facilities.
NCERT, India: People and Economy, Chapter 9: Definition of slums in the section 'Problems of Slums'.
The line to paraphrase in the opening of a slum answer.

Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums: key facts

Causes of rural-urban migration: High labour demand in cities
Few rural jobs
Unbalanced development between rural and urban areas; Poor people bypass small cities and go to mega cities.
Sources of urban population growth: Natural increase
Net in-migration
Reclassification of rural settlements; World urban share: 55 per cent now, 68 per cent estimated by 2050.
Ramesh's case: Rs 20,000 sent home per year
Rs 20 a day in Ludhiana in 1988
Three brothers on three acres
Male-dominated stream; Contract welder in Surat, Mumbai, Jamnagar and other places.
Slum problems: No water, light or toilets
Overcrowding
Open defecation
Low-paid unorganised work
Disease
Social exclusion; Swachh Bharat Mission is part of urban renewal to improve slums.

How to answer Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums questions

Treat migration and slums as cause and effect. Give causes first, then the consequence for housing, health and society.

1State the three causes of rural-urban migration and the bypassing of small cities.
2Use Ramesh as the evidence for low-wage informal work and male-dominated migration.
3Define a slum and list lack of water, light, toilets, ventilation and overcrowding.
4Connect poverty, unorganised work, disease and poor schooling with social exclusion.
5End with the remedy: Swachh Bharat Mission under urban renewal.

Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Push and pull

Suppose a young man from a village with only seasonal farm work hears that a construction company in a far-off city pays daily wages, and he joins a contractor's team leaving his wife and child at home.

Name the causes of his move and the feature of the migration stream it shows.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Low job opportunities in the village and high demand for labour in the city are NCERT's causes.
Low wages make him leave his family behind, so the stream is male-dominated.

Answer: Few rural jobs and urban labour demand drive the move; leaving the family behind shows that rural-urban migration is dominated by males.

Memory hook: No work here, work there; men go first.

Settling where rent is nil

Suppose a family arriving in a city cannot pay rent for even a one-room flat and builds a shelter of sheets and bricks near a drain beside a railway line.

Which feature of slums does this show and what health risks follow?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Slum dwellers cannot afford housing because of high rent and cost of land, so they occupy environmentally incompatible and degraded areas.
Unregulated drainage, open defecation and overcrowding are health and socio-environmental hazards.

Answer: Unaffordable housing pushes the poor to degraded sites; poor drainage and sanitation then cause disease.

Memory hook: Cheap land is costly for health.

Tricks to remember Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

L-J-D
Labour demand, Jobs lacking, Development uneven.
Use it when: Three causes of rural-urban migration.
N-M-R
Natural increase, Migration, Reclassification.
Use it when: Three ways urban population grows.
Water, light, toilet
The three basic amenities slums lack.
Use it when: Opening of a slum answer.
Poor to excluded
Low pay, disease, no school, drug abuse, crime, exclusion.
Use it when: Chain of social consequences.

Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Where poor migrants go · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

According to NCERT, poor migrants from villages generally bypass small cities and move directly to:
(A) district headquarters
(B) mega cities
(C) hill stations
(D) port towns only

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Because of low opportunities in small and medium cities, the poor go directly to mega cities for livelihood (1 mark).

Answer: (B) mega cities

Example 2: Statements on urban growth · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

Consider the statements:
I. Urban population grows by natural increase and net in-migration.
II. Reclassification of settlements can also add to urban population.
III. About 55 per cent of the world's population lives in cities, estimated to reach 68 per cent by 2050.
Which are correct?
(A) I and II only
(B) II and III only
(C) I and III only
(D) I, II and III

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

NCERT gives natural increase, net in-migration and sometimes reclassification as sources of urban growth.
It also gives 55 per cent and 68 per cent by 2050, so all three statements are correct (1 mark).

Answer: (D) I, II and III

Example 3: Assertion and reason on bypassing small cities · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): Poor rural migrants often reach mega cities directly.
Reason (R): Small and medium cities offer few job opportunities.
(A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(B) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(C) (A) is true but (R) is false.
(D) (A) is false but (R) is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

NCERT says that, due to low opportunities in small and medium cities, the poor bypass them.
R explains A (1 mark).

Answer: (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Example 4: Source-based: a contract welder · 3 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the passage: "He was impressed by some successful out-migrants of his village who had been working in Ludhiana and supporting their families by sending money and some consumer goods. Due to abject poverty in the family, he made a move to Punjab with his friend. He worked in a woollen factory for six months at only Rs 20 per day in 1988. Then he decided to change his place of work from Ludhiana to Surat, where he learnt the skills of welding. He cannot shift his family with him, as the job is temporary and transferable."
(i) In which city did he first work in a woollen factory? (1)
(A) Surat (B) Ludhiana (C) Mumbai (D) Talcher
(ii) What did he learn in Surat? (1)
(A) Weaving (B) Welding (C) Driving (D) Tailoring
(iii) Why could he not take his family along? (1)
(A) The village needed them (B) The job was temporary and transferable (C) The family refused (D) Railway fares were free

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) Ludhiana, so (B) (1 mark).
(ii) Welding, so (B) (1 mark).
(iii) The job was temporary and transferable, so (B) (1 mark).

Answer: (i) B; (ii) B; (iii) B

Example 5: Slums: meaning and features · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

What are slums? State any three features of slums in Indian cities. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Slums are residential areas of the least choice (1 mark).
Features: dilapidated houses, poor hygiene and ventilation (1 mark).
Lack of drinking water, light and toilets; open defecation and overcrowded narrow streets (1 mark).

Answer: Slums are residential areas of the least choice. They have dilapidated houses and poor hygienic conditions and ventilation. They lack basic amenities such as drinking water, light and toilet facilities, and have open defecation, unregulated drainage and overcrowded narrow streets.

Example 6: HOTS: migration to slums chain · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Trace how rural-urban migration leads to slums and then to social exclusion, using Ramesh's case and the NCERT account of slums. Also mention the government step noted by NCERT. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Causes: labour demand in cities, few rural jobs, uneven development; poor migrants bypass small cities (1 mark).
Ramesh's case: unskilled migrants do menial low-wage informal work; family left behind (1 mark).
Unable to afford rent, such migrants occupy degraded areas as slums with no water, toilets, light (1 mark).
Low-paid, risky unorganised work leads to undernourishment, disease, no schooling, then crime, drugs and social exclusion (1 mark).
Swachh Bharat Mission under the urban renewal mission aims to improve slum life (1 mark).

Answer: People leave villages because jobs are few and development is uneven, while cities demand labour. Poor migrants bypass small towns and head for the mega cities. As Ramesh's case shows, semi-literate migrants find menial, low-wage work in the informal sector, so wages cannot support a family at the destination and spouses stay behind.

Because rent and land are costly, such migrants settle in slums, in environmentally degraded areas, where houses are dilapidated and drinking water, light and toilets are lacking. Open defecation, poor drainage and narrow overcrowded streets create health hazards.

Slum people work in low-paid, risky, unorganised jobs, so they are undernourished, fall ill often and cannot afford proper schooling for children. Poverty makes them vulnerable to drug abuse, alcoholism, crime and finally social exclusion. The Swachh Bharat Mission, part of the urban renewal mission, is meant to improve the quality of life in urban slums.

Where students lose marks in Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Writing that migrants go to the nearest town
Assumes distance rules the choice.
Wrong working
Migrants always move to the nearest small town.
Right working
Poor people generally bypass small cities and go to mega cities because of low opportunities there.
Do this: Link 'bypass' with 'mega cities'.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Describing slums only by appearance
Students list tin roofs and narrow lanes.
Wrong working
Slums have small houses.
Right working
Slums lack drinking water, light and toilets and cause health and social hazards.
Do this: Write amenities and consequences.
Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks.
Mistake: Ignoring the informal sector
The link between low wages and slum life is skipped.
Wrong working
Slum people are unemployed.
Right working
Slum people work in low-paid, high-risk unorganised sectors.
Do this: Use the words 'low-paid, unorganised'.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

Use Ramesh's case to support any statement about low wages, informal work or male migration; examiners reward the case reference.
A slum answer should list amenities lacking, hazards and social effects in separate lines.
For the Dharavi extract, quote the contrast between its poor conditions and the valuable goods made there.

Practice questions on Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Poor migrants from villages often skip small and medium cities and go straight to mega cities because:
(A) mega cities have fewer people
(B) small and medium cities offer low job opportunities
(C) mega cities have no slums
(D) rural areas have the highest wages
Hint
Think of where work is.
Answer
(B) small and medium cities offer low job opportunities.
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level
Name the three ways in which urban population grows and say which one is a change of status rather than movement of people. (2 marks)
Hint
N-M-R.
Answer
Natural increase, net in-migration and reclassification of rural settlements. Reclassification is a change of status of settlements, not movement of people.
Q3 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Slum dwellers occupy environmentally degraded areas.
Reason (R): They cannot afford housing because of high rent and high land cost.
(A) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(B) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(C) (A) is true but (R) is false.
(D) (A) is false but (R) is true.
Hint
Cost of housing and choice of site.
Answer
(A) Both are true and R explains A.
Q4 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Ramesh earned Rs 20 a day in Ludhiana in 1988 and now sends Rs 20,000 a year home. If he worked 25 days a month at Rs 20 a day for six months, how much would he have earned, and what does the comparison suggest? (3 marks)
Hint
25 x 6 x 20; compare with Rs 20,000.
Answer
Earnings in the six months: 25 days x 6 months x Rs 20 = Rs 3,000 (this assumes 25 working days a month, which NCERT does not state). This is far below the Rs 20,000 he sends home now, suggesting that his move to Surat and learning welding improved his income, and that early migrants earn very little.
Q5 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level
Describe any three health and socio-environmental hazards found in slums. (3 marks)
Hint
Open defecation, drainage, streets.
Answer
Open defecation, unregulated drainage and overcrowded narrow streets are serious health and socio-environmental hazards. Poor hygiene and ventilation and the lack of drinking water and toilets increase disease. Because slum dwellers are undernourished, they fall ill easily.
Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Dharavi produces fine ceramics, leather goods and garments, yet the rich feel revulsion towards it. Explain the contradiction using NCERT's extract. (3 marks)
Hint
Role in the city's wealth.
Answer
The extract describes Dharavi's lanes, garbage and stagnant water, which inspire revulsion in the rich. Yet the revulsion is in direct proportion to the role the slum plays in creating the city's wealth, because many valuable articles such as ceramics, embroidery, leather goods and garments come from it. Slums are thus both despised and essential.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.How much did Ramesh earn per day in Ludhiana in 1988?Show answer
Rs 20 per day.
2.By what year is the world's urban share estimated to reach 68 per cent?Show answer
By 2050.
3.Under which larger mission does NCERT place the Swachh Bharat Mission for slums?Show answer
The urban renewal mission launched by the Government of India.
4.In which Indian city is Dharavi, according to the extract's setting?Show answer
Mumbai (the extract calls it central Bombay).
5.What term is used for the change of status of rural settlements to urban?Show answer
Reclassification of areas.

Rural-Urban Migration and the Problems of Slums: frequently asked questions

Why is rural-urban migration male-dominated?

Low wages in informal urban jobs cannot support a family at the destination, so spouses are left behind in the village.

What does Ramesh's remittance pay for?

Daily consumption, healthcare and schooling of children, and part goes to agriculture, land and houses.

Why do poor migrants end up in slums?

They cannot afford housing because of high rent and land cost, and so occupy degraded areas.

What final outcome does NCERT name for the poverty chain in slums?

Social exclusion, after vulnerability to drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism, escapism and apathy.