34% in slums have no toilet, but 63% own mobile phone in India: Census 2011

While the lack of privacy, sanitation and sewage remain a concern in slums, Census data on ‘Housing Stock, Amenities and Assets in Slums’, which was released here on Thursday, show how this lack of physical space hasn’t cramped aspirations in slums. Consider this: 74 per cent slum households have access to tap water while 70.6 per cent urban households have access to the same. Which means, you have a better chance of drinking tap water if you lived in a slum than if you were outside one.

According to the report, around 68 million Indians live in slums. In 2001, 23.5 per cent of households in urban areas were in slums; it has now come down to 17.4 per cent. While 70.2 per cent slum households are self-owned, the corresponding number for urban households is 69. 2 per cent. Seventy-seven per cent structures in slums are permanent while 84.3 per cent urban households have permanent structures. Most slum households are electrified — 90.5 per cent, only marginally less than urban households (92.7 per cent).

New media has made its way into slums — 72.7 per cent households have phones, of which

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