Glenn Costa – Census: Goa Has Three ‘Slum Towns’
oheraldo.in. October, 14, 2013. PANJIM: Out of the 14 towns in Goa, the State has three towns that can be termed as ‘slum towns’ according to the Census 2011 final figures released recently, which do not mention their names, though it is anybody’s guess which towns these could be.
According to the census data, out of the 26,247 slum population, there is an identified slum population of 20,140 and a notified 6,107 slum population under the three-fold classification of the Census ~ Notified, Recognized and Identified slums.
Despite its supposed affluence, Goa has ‘an absolute number’ of 5,497 slum households. Among the Scheduled Castes, the slum population has been pegged at 2.5%, while among Scheduled Tribes it is 0.4%.
This is more than the slum households of Arunachal Pradesh (3,479 families) but obviously much less than larger States such as Maharashtra (24,99,948), Andhra Pradesh (24,31,474), Tamil Nadu (14,63,689) and West Bengal (13,91,756). Goa’s figures, however, also compare favourably with another small State, Sikkim which has slum households numbering 7,203.
Despite such a low official figure, however, slums in the State are very visible in settlements such as Moti Dongor, Zuari, Chimbel, and Mapusa to name just a few. These have come under the spotlight after they have emerged as game changers in electoral politics, especially to neutralize the local vote.