Comparative Analysis Of District Census Handbook And National Sample Surveys As Sources Of Urban Data

Purba Medinipur district is one of the southernmost districts of West Bengal. It is situated between the latitudes of 21o36’35”N and 22o57’10”N and between the longitudes of 86o33’50”E and 88o12’40”E. According to the Census of 2011, the district has 25 urban units. Out of these, 5 are classified as Statutory Towns while the remaining 20 are classified as Census Towns. The 5 municipalities in the district are: Tamluk Municipality (established in 1864)Contai Municipality (established in 1958)Haldia Municipality (established in 1983)Egra Municipality (established in 1993)Panskura Municipality (established in 2001)Some of the sources for obtaining urban data about the district are the District Census Handbook and the National Sample Surveys.

District Census Handbook

The District Census Handbook (DCHB) contains both Census and non-Census data for the urban areas of each district. The non-Census data is contained in Part-A of the DCHB. It is in the form of the Town Directory which is composed of information on various infrastructure facilities available in the town. Part-B of the DCHB is comprised of the Census data in the form of the District and Town Primary Census Abstract (PCA). This provides ward-level and town-level information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population and data on household amenities. The advantage of the DCHB as a data source is that it covers the entire population.

Town Directory

Non-census data for each town in Purba Medinipur district is provided in the form of seven statements that cover different aspects of urban life.

Statement I – Status and Growth History: This includes data on the area of the town, class, civic status, number of households, Scheduled Caste (SC) population, Scheduled Tribe (ST) population, total population and population growth rate (1901-2011), population density, sex ratio.

Statement II – Physical aspects and location of towns, 2009: This includes data on physical characteristics such as rainfall, temperature as well as the distance from the state headquarters (HQ), district HQ, block HQ, nearest city with population of one lakh or more, nearest city with population of five lakh or more, railway station.

Statement III – Civic and other amenities, 2009: This includes data on the road length, system of drainage, number of latrines, protected water supply, availability of fire-fighting service, number of electricity connections.

Statement IV – Medical Facilities, 2009: This contains data on the number of medical facilities available such as hospitals, dispensaries, maternity and child welfare centres, nursing homes, veterinary hospitals, medicine shops. In case the medical facility is not available in a certain town then the distance from the nearest town where the facility is available is given.

Statement V – Educational, Recreational and Cultural facilities, 2009: This gives information about the number of educational facilities available such as primary schools, middle schools, secondary schools, senior secondary schools, medical colleges, engineering colleges, non-formal education centres. It also gives information about the number of social, recreational and cultural facilities available like orphanage homes, working women’s hostels, old-age homes, cinema/theatre, public libraries. In case the facility is not available in a certain town then the distance from the nearest town where the facility is available is given.

Statement VI – Industry and banking, 2009: This contains information about the three most important commodities manufactured in the town, number of banks, number of agricultural credit societies, number of non-agricultural credit societies.

Statement VII – Civic and other amenities in slums, 2009: This gives data about the slums in the Statutory Towns of the district. Data is available regarding whether a slum is notified or not, number of households, population of the slum, paved roads within the slum, system of drainage, number of latrines, supply of protected water, number of electricity connections.

Town-wise Primary Census Abstract

The Urban PCA provides data at the ward-level and town-level. Some of the types of data that can be obtained are number of households, total population, male population, female population, child population, SC population, ST population, literate population, total workers, main workers in the different categories of cultivators, agricultural labourers, household industry workers and other workers; marginal workers in the various categories, non-workers.

Data related to urban households, amenities and assets is also available. Some of the kinds of data that can be found are number and type of urban SC households, number and type of urban ST households, percentage distribution of urban households living in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary housing; number of households with different sources of drinking water such as tap water from treated source, uncovered well, handpump, spring, river, pond; number of households by source of lighting such as electricity, kerosene, solar, no lighting; number of households by type of latrine facility like flush/pour latrine, pit latrine, no latrine within premises; number of households by type of drainage connectivity for waste water outlet like closed drainage, open drainage, no drainage; number of households by availability of kitchen facility, number of households by type of fuel used for cooking like firewood, crop residue, coal/charcoal, kerosene, LPG, electricity, biogas; number of households availing banking services, number of households possessing assets such as television, computer/laptop with internet, mobile telephone, bicycle, motor cycle, car.

National Sample Surveys

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) is a part of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). It is responsible for conducting large-scale sample surveys at an all-India level. Nation-wide household surveys are conducted on a variety of socio-economic aspects. Each National Sample Survey (NSS) round collects data by focusing on a particular theme.

A demerit of this data source is that it only collects information of a selected sample and not of the whole population. However, since these surveys are conducted by trained statisticians using scientific sampling methods, the data may be thought to be representative of the entire population of the country. Although the NSS provides different types of data that are unavailable in the DCHB, the data is available at the state-level and cannot be appropriately used in order to understand the urban nature of a particular town within a state. Various types of data related to urban areas can be obtained from the NSS.

Some of these are: The 71st round (2014) collected information related to morbidity, use of health services provided by the government, use of alternative schools of medicine. Surveys on social consumption of health were also carried out in the 35th round (1980-1981), 42nd round (1986-1987), 52nd round (1995-1996). The topics of morbidity and healthcare were also covered in the 28th round (1973-1974), 60th round (2004). The 71st round (2014) also collected information regarding the social consumption of education. Access to computers and internet, expenditure on education were some of the topics covered. Surveys on education were also conducted in the 42nd round (1986-1987), 52nd round (1995-1996), 64th round (2007-2008). The 69th round (2012) collected information related to drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, housing conditions. Data related to housing conditions and basic amenities were also collected in the 28th round (1973-1974), 44th round (1988-1989), 49th round (1993), 58th round (2002), 65th round (2008-2009). The 69th round (2012) also collected information related to the basic amenities available in urban slums. Surveys on slum dwellers were also conducted in the 31st round (1976-1977), 49th round (1993), 58th round (2002), 65th round (2008-2009).

The 64th round (2007-2008) collected data on the status of employment, unemployment and migration in the country. Employment and unemployment surveys have also been conducted in the 9th round (1955), 27th round (1972-1973), 32nd round (1977-1978), 38th round (1983), 43rd round (1987-1988), 50th round (1993-1994), 55th round (1999-2000), 61st round (2004-2005), 66th round (2009-2010), 68th round (2011-2012). Migration data has also been gathered in the 28th round (1973-1974), 38th round (1983), 43rd round (1987-1988), 49th round (1993), 55th round (1999-2000), 61st round (2004-2005). The 63rd round (2006-2007) collected data on economic and operational characteristics of enterprises in the service sector. A survey on service sector enterprises was also conducted in the 57th round (2001-2002). The 62nd round (2005-2006) collected data on the economic and operational characteristics of small manufacturing enterprises in the unorganised sector. Data on the unorganised manufacturing sector was also collected in the 51st round (1994-1995), 56th round (2000-2001).

Conclusion

The advantage of the DCHB over the NSS is that the former not only provides district-level but also town-level and ward-level data whereas the latter only provides data at the national or state-level. Also, as the DCHB is a Census data source it provides a complete enumeration of the population. The NSS, on the other hand, uses sampling techniques to cover a portion of the population.

However, the NSS deals with a wider variety of topics that are not a part of the DCHB. These are helpful in providing a better understanding of urban areas and urban life. Unlike the Indian Census that takes place every ten years, the NSS rounds occur at more frequent intervals and can therefore provide more recent and up-to-date information. Even though both the DCHB and the NSS provide different types of data related to urban areas, it is essential to study other types of data as well in order to gain a better understanding of urban life. Geospatial techniques may be applied to analyse maps, satellite imagery, aerial photographs to form a better idea of road networks, built form, land use, land cover as well as the temporal changes in these attributes. Blogs, photographs, social media have gained importance in recent times in providing information about heritage, culture and certain non-tangible aspects of urban society. Thus, it is necessary to use a combination of these data sources to develop a sounder perspective regarding urban areas and urban life and to carry out research and formulate policies on issues of relevance.