GS Paper I 2023 · Q18
15 marks · 250 words Women, population, poverty & urbanisation X-Ray · Core #5Does urbanization lead to more segregation and/or marginalization of the poor in Indian metropolises?
Approach · directive: “does”
What it asks · Argue with examples whether metropolitan growth spatially separates and economically marginalises the urban poor, and note the counter-evidence of inclusion.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Take a position: whether urbanisation segregates the poor in space within Indian metropolises
- Examine: how it marginalises them in services, work, voice and risk
- Weigh: the counter-evidence of inclusion, and what would make cities inclusive
Open with · About 6.54 crore Indians live in slums (Parliament, March 2025); metropolises do segregate and marginalise the poor, but through how land and services are governed, not urban growth itself.
Cover
- Spatial segregation: land prices push the poor into slums and peripheral resettlement colonies; gated enclaves let the rich opt out.
- Identity enclaves: caste and religion sort renters and neighbourhoods.
- Services: less water, sanitation and drainage; insecure tenure and eviction.
- Work: informal, insecure jobs; vendor harassment despite the 2004 policy and the Street Vendors Act, 2014.
- Voice and risk: migrants lack local voter and ration registration; slums bear floods, fires, pollution first.
- Counter-view: higher wages, looser caste bonds, services; 90.60 lakh PMAY-U houses delivered to slum beneficiaries.
- Way forward: inclusive zoning, rental housing, in-situ upgrading, ward planning under the 74th Amendment.
Close with · SDG 11 promises inclusive, safe and resilient cities; a metropolis planned with its workers, not around them, turns the poor from its margin into its base.
Add value (verified)
- Parliament was told in March 2025 that 6.54 crore people in 1.39 crore households live in slums, and 90.60 lakh PMAY-U houses had been completed or delivered to slum beneficiaries as of 3 March 2025. The slum-household data is based on Census 2011 (same report).Over 6.54 crore people living in slums; 90.60 lakh houses delivered under PMAY-U — DD India (news, public broadcaster), 17 March 2025 ↗“A total of 6.54 crore people, representing 1.39 crore households, are currently living in slums across the country, and 90.60 lakh houses have been completed or delivered to slum beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as of March 3”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 364words · Minimalist IAS
Parliament was told in March 2025 that about 6.54 crore Indians live in slums, in 1.39 crore households, a count based on Census 2011. Indian metropolises do segregate and marginalise the poor, but this flows from how land, housing and services are governed rather than from urban growth itself.
- Migrant seeks city work
- land and rent priced beyond reach
- slum or distant resettlement colony
- weak services, insecure tenure
- informal work, little voice
Yes: segregation in space
- Priced out: high land values push the poor into slums, pavements and peripheral resettlement colonies, far from jobs; Mumbai's Dharavi is the best-known face of this.
- Secession of the rich: gated enclaves, private schools and private hospitals let the affluent opt out of shared public services.
- Identity enclaves: landlords and housing societies screen tenants by caste and religion, so Dalit and Muslim families often cluster in separate pockets.
Yes: marginalisation in life chances
- Services: slums receive less piped water, sanitation and drainage, and insecure tenure exposes them to eviction and demolition.
- Work: most of the urban poor work informally, without contracts or social security; vendors' harassment prompted a national policy in 2004 and the Street Vendors Act, 2014.
- Voice and risk: migrants often lack local voter registration and ration cards, have little say in planning, and bear floods, fires and pollution first.
But cities also include
- Mobility: cities pay higher wages, loosen village caste hierarchy and offer schools and hospitals; slums are dense economies of workshops and mutual aid.
- Policy: 90.60 lakh houses under PMAY-Urban had reached slum beneficiaries by March 2025, and One Nation One Ration Card makes rations portable for migrants.
Way forward
- Land for the poor: inclusive zoning that reserves housing for low-income groups, plus rental and worker housing near jobs.
- Upgrade, not evict: in-situ slum upgrading with secure tenure and universal basic services.
- Voice: ward committees and participatory planning under the 74th Amendment, with migrants counted as residents.
The verdict is a qualified yes: Indian metropolises do push the poor to the margins, but by design, not destiny. SDG 11 promises inclusive, safe and resilient cities; a city planned with its workers, not around them, turns the poor from its margin into its base.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
