ABSTRACT
The state of Delhi was formed in 1992. The urban areas of Delhi, comprising Delhi and New Delhi, account for the overwhelming majority of the population of the state. The total population of the state, in 2001, was 13.85 million of which only 944,727 lived in rural areas (Government of Delhi 2001). Hence, the total urban population was 12.91 million (ibid.) making it the largest urban centre in the country. This is certainly a unique distinction for Delhi. Till the Census of 1981, Kolkata (then Calcutta) was the largest city followed by Mumbai (then Bombay) and Delhi was a poor third. At that time Delhi was regarded primarily as a bureaucratic city that lacked the working-class culture of Mumbai or Kolkata.
