Indians flocking to cities: Census

There is a heavy rush to cities from villages. And the urban areas of Maharashtra are the most preferred ones in the country because they have the highest number of urban population in India living in them.

The data on Rural-Urban Distribution of Population released by the registrar general and Census commissioner of India has revealed that for the first time since Independence, the absolute increase in population in urban areas is more than the rural.

Between 2001 to 2011, the population of the country increased by 181.4 million. In rural areas this increase was 90.4 million while in urban areas it was 91 million which clearly indicates preference for cities over villages.

Though the rural-urban distribution is 68.84% and 31.16%, respectively, the level of urbanisation has increased from 27.81% in 2001 to 31.16% in 2011 and the proportion of rural population declined from 72.19% to 68.84%. Maharashtra with 50.8 million population has 13.5% of total urban population living in the state.