Housing Condition in Tamil Nadu

(By N. Ravichandran, Deputy Director, Directorate of Census Operations, Tamil Nadu, India)

India has a long tradition of conducting population censuses. As part of

each census, house-numbering and houselisting have been undertaken a few
months ahead of the main census. Till 1951, each State was free to adopt its own
houselist form and the concepts varied from State to State making the data
incomparable. However, with the commencement of the Five Year Plans, the lack
of data on housing was considered as a serious handicap. In the 1961 census, it
was therefore decided to canvass a uniform houselist schedule all over India at
the time of houselisting. Since then, the collection of data on census houses and
certain important amenities available to the households such as drinking water
source, electricity and toilet facilities, type of fuel used for cooking, etc. either
during houselisting or main census was considerably expanded from census to
census and during houselisting of the Census of India 2001, quite a large number
of data were collected to meet out the requirements of various data seekers. To
make available the data on amenities separately for SC and ST households, a
question on whether the head of the household belonged to SC or ST was
introduced in 1991 and this was continued in the Census of India 2001 also.

Type of houses:
Census houses have been classified as permanent, semi-permanent and
temporary houses depending upon their predominant construction materials of
wall and roof. Temporary houses have been further classified into serviceable
and non-serviceable depending upon their nature. Houses with wall materials of
G.I., Metal, Asbestos sheets, burnt bricks, stone or concrete and with roof
materials of tiles, slates, G.I., Metal, Asbestos sheets, bricks, stone or concrete
are considered as permanent in nature. The semi-permanent houses are with
either wall or roof made of permanent materials and the other made of temporary
materials. Houses with wall made of temporary materials such as grass, thatch,
bamboo, etc, mud, plastic, polythene, unburnt bricks or wood and roof made of
grass, thatch, bamboo, wood, mud, plastic or polythene are considered as
temporary houses. Temporary serviceable houses are with wall materials of mud,
unburnt bricks or wood. Non-serviceable temporary houses are with wall
materials of grass, thatch, bamboo, etc, plastic or polythene.
As per the houselisting of the Census of India 2001, of the total number of
13,962,609 census houses in the State used as residence and residence-cum-
other use, 8,154,895 houses constituting 58.41% are permanent houses. Semi-
permanent houses numbering 2,539,503 constitute 18.19% and temporary
houses (3266070) form 23.39% (19.76% serviceable and 3.63% non
serviceable). In rural areas, 47.28% are permanent, 20.22% are semi permanent
and 32.49% are temporary houses. The corresponding ratios in the urban areas
are 74.16%, 15.31% and 10.51%.
Comparing the various districts of the State, it is observed that the city
district of Chennai (87.08%) has shown the highest proportion of residential
houses under permanent in nature. It is followed by Coimbatore (73.43%) and
The Nilgiris (70.21%). Sixteen districts have recorded higher ratios than the State

1
average (58.41%). The lowest ratio among the districts is registered in Ariyalur
(36.01%), Thiruvarur (37.15%) and Viluppuram (37.32%) districts with
comparatively lower ratios stand ahead of Ariyalur at the bottom under this
category of permanent houses. Under semi-permanent houses, the southern
districts of Kanniyakumari (35.39%), Ramanathapuram (32.04%) and Tirunelveli
(28.91%) occupy the top three spots among the districts. Thiruvallur (10.24%),
Viluppuram (9.24%) and Chennai (7.21%) districts form the rear. Under
temporary houses, Viluppuram district with 53.41% has shown the highest ratio. It
is followed by Ariyalur (51.42%) and Thiruvarur (49.51%) districts. The Nilgiris
(3.79%), Coimbatore (5.39%) and Chennai (5.66%) have netted very low ratios of
houses under temporary. The condition of more than one-fourth of the total
residential houses in 11 districts of the State is temporary in nature. Eventhough
the quality of housing has improved a lot in the recent past in the State, still there
is a long way to go towards further improvement in this regard. Of the 3,266,070
temporary residential houses in the State, 2,759,277 (84.48%) are serviceable
and the remaining 506,793 houses (15.52%) are non-serviceable.
Of the total number of 14,173,626 households netted during houselisting of
the Census of India 2001 in the State, 8,295,106 households constituting 58.52%
live in permanent houses. Households living in semi-permanent houses form
18.15% (2,572,029 households). About 23.31% of the households numbering
3,304,310 live in temporary houses. Among them, 2,789,773 households are
living in serviceable houses and the remaining 514,537 households in non-
serviceable houses. In rural Tamil Nadu, 47.30% of households live in permanent
houses, 20.21% in semi-permanent houses and 32.48% in temporary houses
(28.39% in serviceable and 4.10% in non-serviceable). About 74.27% of the
urban households in the State are housed in permanent structures. Households
living in semi-permanent houses constitute 15.26% of urban households.
Households living in temporary houses form 10.45% of which 7.47% are in
serviceable and 2.98% in non-serviceable houses.
In 1991, of the 12,342,715 total households in the State, 5,618,265
households constituting 45.52% were in permanent houses, 2,310,125
households (18.72%) in semi-permanent houses and 4,414,325 households
(35.76%) in temporary houses. Among the rural households, 34.60% were in
permanent, 20.33% in semi-permanent and 45.07% in temporary houses. The
corresponding ratios among urban households were 69.02%, 15.24% and
15.73%.
When the State figures are compared with All India figures, it is noticed
that the ratio of households living in permanent houses in Tamil Nadu (58.52%) is
noticeably higher than the ratio of the country as a whole (51.80%). Households
living in semi-permanent houses form 30.04% of the total households in the
country. This ratio works out to 18.15% in the State. However, the proportion of
households living in temporary houses is comparatively higher in the State
(23.31%) than the country (18.14%), indicating that we are still behind and have
to go a long way for further improvement in this field.

2
 Chart 1: PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS
BY TYPE OF CENSUS HOUSES-2001

INDIA
TYPE OF CENSUS HOUSES

Temporary
TAMIL NADU

Semi-permanent

Permanent

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

PERCENTAGE

Comparing the various districts of the State, it is noticed that the highest
proportion of households living in permanent houses is recorded in the city district of
Chennai (87.16%). The second and third highest ratios are registered by Coimbatore
(73.45%) and The Nilgiris (70.22%) districts. Sixteen districts have shown higher ratios
than the State average (58.52%). Viluppuram (37.34%), Thiruvarur (37.23%) and
Ariyalur (36.01%) have recorded comparatively lower ratios of households living in
permanent houses. Households living in semi-permanent houses constitute 35.41% in
Kanniyakuamri, which is the highest ratio among the districts. Ramanathapuram (32%)
and Tirunelveli (28.89%) have shown the second and third highest ratios of
households under semi-permanent houses. Thiruvallur (10.24%), Viluppuram (9.25%)
and Chennai (7.18%) districts have recorded the minimum. More than a half of the
total households in Viluppuram (53.39%) and Ariyalur (51.44%) districts dwell in
temporary houses. In Tiruvannamalai, Perambalur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam,
Thiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts also, more than one-third of the
households live in temporary houses. All the above are agriculture oriented districts.
Households dwelling in temporary houses form the lowest ratios in Chennai (5.61%),
Coimbatore (5.38%) and The Nilgiris (3.79%). About 8.33% of the households in
Ramanathapuram district, 8.32% in Nagapattinam district and 6.44% in Erode district
live in non-serviceable temporary houses.

3
 Table 1: Percentage Distribution Of Total Households
By Type Of Census Houses Occupied, 2001
Temporary
Total No. of Semi- Unclassi-
State/District Permanent Non-
households permanent Total Serviceable fiable
serviceable
TAMIL NADU 14,173,626 58.52 18.15 23.31 19.68 3.63 0.02
THIRUVALLUR 605,866 64.98 10.24 24.78 20.23 4.55 0.00
CHENNAI 827,811 87.16 7.18 5.61 2.17 3.44 0.05
KANCHEEPURAM 618,170 60.35 10.77 28.88 25.27 3.61 0.01
VELLORE 726,594 58.11 11.56 30.32 27.12 3.20 0.01
DHARMAPURI 631,426 48.21 27.94 23.85 22.06 1.79 0.00
TIRUVANNAMALAI 482,397 49.18 11.41 39.41 36.66 2.75 0.00
VILUPPURAM 632,884 37.34 9.25 53.39 48.99 4.40 0.02
SALEM 718,556 60.83 15.38 23.79 21.55 2.23 0.00
NAMAKKAL 387,488 61.43 16.84 21.72 17.97 3.75 0.01
ERODE 687,882 63.56 22.73 13.70 7.27 6.44 0.01
THE NILGIRIS 178,702 70.22 25.94 3.79 2.73 1.06 0.04
COIMBATORE 987,930 73.45 21.16 5.38 2.50 2.88 0.01
DINDIGUL 455,447 58.56 24.15 17.28 12.90 4.37 0.02
KARUR 232,854 61.14 17.61 21.23 16.49 4.73 0.02
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 551,471 59.88 15.64 24.45 21.23 3.22 0.03
PERAMBALUR 118,361 48.44 12.81 38.75 35.47 3.28 0.01
ARIYALUR 165,214 36.01 12.55 51.44 48.49 2.95 0.01
CUDDALORE 503,057 42.42 11.01 46.56 41.52 5.04 0.01
NAGAPATTINAM 337,514 38.44 13.93 47.62 39.30 8.32 0.01
THIRUVARUR 270,898 37.23 13.35 49.42 45.25 4.17 0.00
THANJAVUR 479,459 43.97 15.58 40.44 35.66 4.78 0.01
PUDUKKOTTAI 314,708 46.81 19.41 33.76 28.18 5.59 0.01
SIVAGANGA 280,607 57.61 26.54 15.85 13.98 1.87 0.00
MADURAI 597,300 68.08 19.67 12.22 10.47 1.75 0.04
THENI 262,150 61.89 25.90 12.19 9.91 2.28 0.03
VIRUDHUNAGAR 441,037 66.83 24.58 8.59 7.55 1.04 0.01
RAMANATHAPURAM 270,147 49.87 32.00 18.10 9.76 8.33 0.03
THOOTHUKKUDI 387,267 60.43 26.14 13.38 7.86 5.52 0.05
TIRUNELVELI 649,229 62.81 28.89 8.29 7.07 1.22 0.01
KANNIYAKUMARI 371,200 49.38 35.41 15.21 11.30 3.91 0.00

4
 TAMIL NADU
HOUSEHOLDS LIVING H

S
IN PERMANENT CENSUS HOUSES 2001
# #
#

E
# #
#
#
#
#
#

D
#
# #
# # #
# #
# ##

A
#
# # #
# #

R
#
# #
#
# #
#
#

Percentage of Households living in Permanent Census Houses P

70.01 - 87.16 THIRUVALLUR
H R A 64.98
60.01 - 70.00 D
50.01 - 60.00

N
K A CHENNAI
40.01 - 50.00 VELLORE 87.16

A
KANCHEEPURAM
36.01 - 40.00 A 58.11
T 60.35

#
#
#
#
#

TIRUVANNAMALAI
#
#
# #

#
# #
# #
#
#
#
# #
#

49.18
A

DHARMAPURI
48.21 #
#

#
#
N

# # #
# # #
# # # #
# #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # # # #
# # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # #
# # # #
# # #

R VILUPPURAM
A 37.34 PONDICHERRY
K
SALEM BAY
60.83
THE NILGIRIS CUDDALORE OF
70.22 42.42
I N ERODE D I A
63.56 NAMAKKAL PERAMBALUR BENGAL
61.43 48.44
ARIYALUR
A 36.01 NAGAPATTINAM
COIMBATORE TIRUCHIRAPPALLI
KARUR 59.88 KARAIKAL
73.45 61.14 (PONDICHERRY)
THANJAVUR
43.97 THIRUVARUR
37.23
L

NAGAPATTINAM
DINDIGUL PUDUKKOTTAI 38.44
58.56 46.81

Palk Strait
R

MADURAI
THENI 68.08 SIVAGANGA
61.89 57.61

VIRUDHUNAGAR
66.83 RAMANATHAPURAM
49.87
E

# #
# # #
# # # # #
# # #
# # # # #
# # #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # #
# # # # # # #

THOOTHUKKUDI
# # # # #
# # #
# # # # # #
# #
# #
# # # # #

60.43

TIRUNELVELI
Gulf of Mannar
SRI
62.81
K

LANKA
KANNIYAKUMARI
49.38

I N D I A N O C E A N

5
 TAMIL NADU
HOUSEHOLDS LIVING IN SEMI-PERMANENT H

S
CENSUS HOUSES 2001
# #
#

E
# #
#
#
#
#
#

D
#
# #
#
# #
# #
# #

A
#
#
# #
#
# #

R
#
# #
#
#
#
#
#

P
Percentage of Households living in THIRUVALLUR
Semi-permanent Census Houses H R A
D 10.24
28.01 - 35.41 CHENNAI

N
21.01 - 28.00 K A 7.18
VELLORE

A
14.01 - 21.00 KANCHEEPURAM
7.18 - 14.00 A 11.56
T 10.77

TIRUVANNAMALAI #
#
#
#
#

#
#

#
#

#
#
#

#
#
#
#
#
# #
#

11.41
A

DHARMAPURI
27.94
#
#

# #
N

# # #
# # #
# # # #
# #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # # # #
# # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # #
# # # #
# # #

R VILUPPURAM
A 9.25 PONDICHERRY
K
SALEM
BAY
15.38
CUDDALORE
THE NILGIRIS 11.01 OF
I 25.94 N ERODE D I A
NAMAKKAL
22.73 16.84
PERAMBALUR BENGAL
12.81
ARIYALUR
A 12.55
NAGAPATTINAM
COIMBATORE TIRUCHIRAPPALLI
21.16 KARUR KARAIKAL
17.61 15.64 (PONDICHERRY)
THANJAVUR
15.58
THIRUVARUR
13.35 NAGAPATTINAM
L

PUDUKKOTTAI 13.93
DINDIGUL
24.15 19.41

THENI Palk Strait

R

MADURAI
25.90 19.67 SIVAGANGA
26.54

VIRUDHUNAGAR
24.58 RAMANATHAPURAM
32.00
E

# #
# # #
# #
# # #
# # #
# # #
# #
# # #
# #
# #
# # # # #
# # #
# # #
# # # #

THOOTHUKKUDI
# # # # #
# # #
# # # #
# #
# #
# #
# #
# # #

26.14
TIRUNELVELI
28.89 Gulf of Mannar
SRI
K

LANKA
KANNIYAKUMARI
35.41

I N D I A N O C E A N

6
 TAMIL NADU
H
HOUSEHOLDS LIVING IN TEMPORARY

S
CENSUS HOUSES 2001
# #
#

E
# #
#
#
#
#
#

D
#
# #
#
# #
# #
# #

A
#
#
# #
#
# #

R
#
# #
#
#
#
#
#

P
% of HH living in temporary census houses THIRUVALLUR
H R A
35.01 - 53.39 D
24.78
25.01 - 35.00

N
K A CHENNAI
15.01 - 25.00 VELLORE 5.61

A
KANCHEEPURAM
3.79 - 15.00 A 30.32 28.88
T
#
#
#
#
#

TIRUVANNAMALAI
#
#
# #

#
# #
# #
#
#
#
# #
#

39.41
A

DHARMAPURI
23.85 #
#

#
#
N

# # #
# # #
# # # #
# #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # # #
# # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # # # #
# # # # #
# # # # # #
# # # # #
# # # #
# # #

R VILUPPURAM
A 53.39 PONDICHERRY
K
SALEM BAY
23.79
THE NILGIRIS CUDDALORE OF
I 3.79 N ERODE D I 46.56 A
13.70 NAMAKKAL PERAMBALUR BENGAL
21.72 38.75
ARIYALUR
A 51.44 NAGAPATTINAM
COIMBATORE TIRUCHIRAPPALLI
KARUR 24.45 KARAIKAL
5.38 21.23 (PONDICHERRY)
THANJAVUR
40.44 THIRUVARUR
49.42
L

NAGAPATTINAM
DINDIGUL PUDUKKOTTAI 47.62
17.28 33.76

Palk Strait
R

MADURAI
THENI 12.22 SIVAGANGA
12.19 15.85

VIRUDHUNAGAR
8.59 RAMANATHAPURAM
18.10
E

# #
# # #
# #
# # #
# # #
# # #
# #
# # #
# #
# #
# # # # #
# # #
# # #
# # # #

THOOTHUKKUDI
# # # # #
# # #
# # # #
# #
# #
# #
# #
# # #

13.38

TIRUNELVELI
Gulf of Mannar
SRI
8.29
K

LANKA
KANNIYAKUMARI
15.21

I N D I A N O C E A N

7
 Table 2: Percentage Distribution Of Rural Households
By Type Of Census Houses Occupied, 2001
Temporary
Total No. of Semi-
State/District Permanent Unclassifiable
households permanent Non-
Total Serviceable
serviceable
TAMIL NADU 8,274,790 47.30 20.21 32.48 28.39 4.10 0.01
THIRUVALLUR 279,436 48.89 9.60 41.50 36.94 4.57 0.00
CHENNAI 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
KANCHEEPURAM 293,007 43.27 9.87 46.86 42.80 4.06 0.00
VELLORE 477,525 50.42 10.83 38.75 35.29 3.46 0.00
DHARMAPURI 536,728 44.01 29.29 26.70 24.78 1.92 0.00
TIRUVANNAMALAI 403,461 45.17 11.11 43.73 41.02 2.71 0.00
VILUPPURAM 549,389 33.45 9.01 57.52 52.97 4.55 0.02
SALEM 401,861 51.19 16.76 32.06 29.35 2.71 0.00
NAMAKKAL 253,804 54.24 18.16 27.58 23.26 4.33 0.02
ERODE 386,299 56.30 26.75 16.94 9.59 7.35 0.01
THE NILGIRIS 77,689 72.09 22.72 5.15 3.67 1.48 0.03
COIMBATORE 365,445 64.13 26.56 9.30 4.80 4.50 0.01
DINDIGUL 303,586 54.59 25.69 19.71 15.04 4.67 0.01
KARUR 158,365 53.74 21.32 24.93 20.03 4.90 0.01
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 307,655 47.69 18.97 33.32 29.61 3.71 0.01
PERAMBALUR 101,065 46.27 12.89 40.84 37.61 3.23 0.01
ARIYALUR 148,693 34.06 12.27 53.66 50.60 3.07 0.01
CUDDALORE 349,119 34.24 10.32 55.43 50.18 5.25 0.01
NAGAPATTINAM 271,034 34.15 12.78 53.06 44.57 8.49 0.01
THIRUVARUR 222,931 33.65 12.48 53.86 49.57 4.29 0.00
THANJAVUR 328,021 36.12 15.37 48.50 42.92 5.58 0.01
PUDUKKOTTAI 262,651 42.56 20.03 37.40 31.28 6.12 0.01
SIVAGANGA 207,692 49.93 31.08 18.99 16.82 2.17 0.00
MADURAI 288,534 50.16 29.56 20.23 17.81 2.43 0.05
THENI 126,851 58.16 29.62 12.23 10.37 1.86 0.00
VIRUDHUNAGAR 247,544 58.25 31.35 10.40 9.23 1.17 0.01
RAMANATHAPURAM 209,831 43.32 36.91 19.76 11.49 8.27 0.00
THOOTHUKKUDI 230,027 51.39 33.72 14.88 10.08 4.80 0.01
TIRUNELVELI 354,892 58.05 31.56 10.38 8.80 1.58 0.01
KANNIYAKUMARI 131,655 47.54 35.40 17.05 12.14 4.91 0.00

8
 Table 3:Percentage Distribution Of Urban Households
By Type Of Census Houses Occupied, 2001
Temporary
Total No. of Semi-
State/District Permanent Non- Unclassifiable
households permanent Total Serviceable
serviceable
TAMIL NADU 5,898,836 74.27 15.26 10.45 7.47 2.98 0.02
THIRUVALLUR 326,430 78.76 10.78 10.46 5.92 4.54 0.00
CHENNAI 827,811 87.16 7.18 5.61 2.17 3.44 0.05
KANCHEEPURAM 325,163 75.74 11.57 12.67 9.47 3.20 0.02
VELLORE 249,069 72.86 12.96 14.17 11.46 2.71 0.01
DHARMAPURI 94,698 72.01 20.32 7.67 6.63 1.04 0.00
TIRUVANNAMALAI 78,936 69.67 12.99 17.34 14.39 2.95 0.00
VILUPPURAM 83,495 62.93 10.84 26.21 22.81 3.40 0.01
SALEM 316,695 73.06 13.64 13.29 11.66 1.64 0.01
NAMAKKAL 133,684 75.08 14.33 10.58 7.92 2.66 0.01
ERODE 301,583 72.85 17.58 9.56 4.29 5.27 0.00
THE NILGIRIS 101,013 68.78 28.42 2.74 2.00 0.75 0.05
COIMBATORE 622,485 78.92 17.99 3.08 1.15 1.92 0.01
DINDIGUL 151,861 66.49 21.06 12.42 8.63 3.79 0.02
KARUR 74,489 76.88 9.72 13.36 8.97 4.39 0.04
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 243,816 75.25 11.44 13.25 10.65 2.60 0.06
PERAMBALUR 17,296 61.13 12.32 26.55 22.98 3.57 0.00
ARIYALUR 16,521 53.54 15.07 31.38 29.52 1.86 0.01
CUDDALORE 153,938 60.97 12.58 26.44 21.89 4.55 0.01
NAGAPATTINAM 66,480 55.93 18.62 25.44 17.84 7.61 0.01
THIRUVARUR 47,967 53.83 17.39 28.78 25.17 3.61 0.00
THANJAVUR 151,438 60.97 16.03 22.99 19.95 3.05 0.01
PUDUKKOTTAI 52,057 68.30 16.28 15.41 12.53 2.88 0.01
SIVAGANGA 72,915 79.48 13.62 6.89 5.88 1.00 0.01
MADURAI 308,766 84.82 10.42 4.74 3.62 1.12 0.03
THENI 135,299 65.38 22.41 12.16 9.48 2.68 0.05
VIRUDHUNAGAR 193,493 77.80 15.91 6.27 5.40 0.87 0.02
RAMANATHAPURAM 60,316 72.62 14.94 12.30 3.73 8.56 0.15
THOOTHUKKUDI 157,240 73.65 15.05 11.18 4.61 6.58 0.12
TIRUNELVELI 294,337 68.54 25.67 5.77 4.99 0.78 0.01
KANNIYAKUMARI 239,545 50.39 35.42 14.19 10.83 3.36 0.00

Among the scheduled caste households numbering 3070374 in the State as

per the houselisting of the Census of India 2001, 47.95% live in permanent houses
and another 18.04% in semi-permanent houses. Households living in houses built with
temporary materials constitute 34% of the SC households, which is comparatively
higher than the ratio worked out for total households (23.31%). About 61.23% of rural
SC households and 77.15% of urban SC households live either in permanent or semi-
permanent houses.

9
 Table 4: Percentage Distribution Of Total Scheduled Caste Households
By Type Of Census Houses Occupied, 2001
Total No. of Temporary
Semi-
State/District Scheduled caste Permanent Non- Unclassifiable
permanent Total Serviceable
households serviceable
TAMIL NADU 3,070,374 47.95 18.04 34.00 28.66 5.34 0.01
THIRUVALLUR 153,576 48.06 12.05 39.88 32.63 7.26 0.00
CHENNAI 159,928 70.32 14.56 15.09 6.58 8.51 0.02
KANCHEEPURAM 177,120 41.24 11.56 47.19 42.21 4.98 0.01
VELLORE 167,900 52.90 11.18 35.92 31.58 4.34 0.00
DHARMAPURI 96,139 50.20 26.93 22.87 20.88 1.99 0.00
TIRUVANNAMALAI 108,611 44.94 8.85 46.21 42.76 3.45 0.00
VILUPPURAM 184,256 33.59 7.66 58.73 54.05 4.67 0.02
SALEM 125,775 54.55 15.58 29.87 26.75 3.12 0.00
NAMAKKAL 80,874 51.62 16.90 31.46 24.86 6.60 0.01
ERODE 131,117 53.11 23.67 23.21 11.24 11.97 0.01
THE NILGIRIS 66,109 58.79 36.97 4.17 3.27 0.90 0.06
COIMBATORE 173,488 56.11 30.47 13.40 6.18 7.22 0.02
DINDIGUL 100,361 55.76 24.12 20.10 13.91 6.19 0.02
KARUR 51,091 57.77 14.60 27.62 20.20 7.42 0.02
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 104,789 49.69 14.98 35.33 30.44 4.89 0.00
PERAMBALUR 37,914 40.82 12.37 46.81 43.43 3.38 0.00
ARIYALUR 37,706 30.73 8.28 60.99 57.31 3.68 0.00
CUDDALORE 152,391 33.42 8.64 57.94 52.30 5.64 0.00
NAGAPATTINAM 112,407 28.09 8.14 63.75 55.26 8.49 0.03
THIRUVARUR 96,516 27.31 7.57 65.12 59.99 5.13 0.00
THANJAVUR 97,078 36.90 11.20 51.89 47.22 4.67 0.01
PUDUKKOTTAI 61,760 48.88 16.37 34.75 29.25 5.50 0.00
SIVAGANGA 50,641 53.79 26.52 19.68 17.28 2.40 0.01
MADURAI 88,971 53.25 24.95 21.78 17.95 3.83 0.01
THENI 53,867 54.35 28.39 17.25 13.16 4.09 0.01
VIRUDHUNAGAR 96,449 56.51 27.51 15.98 14.08 1.90 0.00
RAMANATHAPURAM 58,023 43.22 34.01 22.77 16.23 6.54 0.00
THOOTHUKKUDI 81,835 48.86 30.59 20.53 13.05 7.48 0.02
TIRUNELVELI 135,760 54.33 33.04 12.62 11.30 1.33 0.01
KANNIYAKUMARI 27,922 43.57 31.38 25.05 19.34 5.71 0.00

Among Scheduled Tribes, of the total number of 316,567 households in

the State, 47.25% live in permanent houses, 16.89% in semi-permanent houses and
35.84% in temporary houses. In the rural areas, 35.81% of ST households live in
permanent houses. In urban areas, 67.86% are in permanent houses. About 47.30%
of ST households in rural areas and 15.21% in urban areas live in temporary
structures.

Table 5: Percentage Distribution Of Total Scheduled Tribe Households

By Type Of Census Houses Occupied, 2001
Total No. of Temporary
Semi-
State/District Scheduled tribe Permanent Non- Unclassifiable
permanent Total Serviceable
households serviceable
TAMIL NADU 316,567 47.25 16.89 35.84 29.79 6.05 0.02
THIRUVALLUR 21,385 52.94 10.89 36.17 28.52 7.65 0.00
CHENNAI 27,935 82.24 9.54 8.20 2.72 5.49 0.01
KANCHEEPURAM 19,730 50.02 12.19 37.77 29.67 8.10 0.01
VELLORE 19,162 33.49 10.68 55.82 51.61 4.21 0.01
DHARMAPURI 17,763 37.39 25.18 37.43 34.09 3.34 0.00
TIRUVANNAMALAI 18,827 23.39 5.81 70.80 66.42 4.38 0.00
VILUPPURAM 21,164 22.80 6.79 70.32 63.93 6.38 0.09
SALEM 31,456 44.52 16.67 38.80 34.71 4.09 0.00

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NAMAKKAL 17,277 34.23 23.24 42.52 39.38 3.15 0.01
ERODE 11,744 51.98 23.59 24.44 13.62 10.81 0.00
THE NILGIRIS 11,151 54.19 27.60 18.20 10.43 7.77 0.01
COIMBATORE 21,803 59.22 25.11 15.65 7.78 7.87 0.02
DINDIGUL 5,593 53.14 23.28 23.58 16.20 7.38 0.00
KARUR 2,336 55.78 21.58 22.65 14.81 7.83 0.00
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 10,431 57.22 15.55 27.23 22.78 4.45 0.00
PERAMBALUR 1,134 55.56 13.05 31.39 29.81 1.59 0.00
ARIYALUR 3,180 34.62 8.05 57.33 53.40 3.93 0.00
CUDDALORE 6,706 28.85 11.17 59.86 50.85 9.01 0.12
NAGAPATTINAM 2,446 37.04 13.82 49.14 35.90 13.25 0.00
THIRUVARUR 2,359 25.22 18.31 56.46 45.40 11.06 0.00
THANJAVUR 3,144 36.51 13.49 50.00 41.83 8.17 0.00
PUDUKKOTTAI 3,610 43.60 24.24 32.13 24.85 7.29 0.03
SIVAGANGA 2,583 52.26 27.80 19.94 16.26 3.68 0.00
MADURAI 6,648 58.68 24.94 16.32 11.10 5.22 0.06
THENI 2,208 59.38 20.38 20.24 15.94 4.30 0.00
VIRUDHUNAGAR 5,389 62.70 27.54 9.74 8.83 0.91 0.02
RAMANATHAPURAM 2,020 44.80 33.56 21.63 11.04 10.59 0.00
THOOTHUKKUDI 4,725 57.10 26.50 16.40 11.15 5.25 0.00
TIRUNELVELI 6,899 60.04 27.55 12.36 10.09 2.28 0.04
KANNIYAKUMARI 5,759 40.68 28.49 30.82 13.37 17.45 0.00

TYPE OF CENSUS HOUSES IN

TAMIL NADU

100%
90%
80%
70%
PERCENTAGE

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
TOTAL SC ST

Permanent Semi-permanent Temporary

Condition of houses:
During houselisting of the Census of India 2001, a new question on the
condition of the Census house in which the household was living was asked to each
and every household and they were netted under good, livable and dilapidated,
based on the answer given by them. The personal perception of the households was
taken into consideration while categorizing them. Accordingly, 88.14% of the total
households in the State have returned that the condition of the houses in which they
were living was Good. Another 11.02% of households have returned the condition of
their houses as livable and only 0.84% have reported as dilapidated condition. The
data indicates that many households even though they are living in serviceable or non-
serviceable temporary houses have reported the condition of their houses as either

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good or livable which means that the classification of houses as good, livable and
dilapidated were not having any relationship with the quality of materials used for
construction. The same trend is noticed in both rural as well as urban areas.
Dwelling rooms:
Of the 14173626 households in the State, 5995355 households constituting
42.30% are in single roomed houses and 3793468 households accounting 26.76% are
in double-roomed houses. Three and above roomed households constitute 19.87% of
the total households. About 11.06% of the households have returned that they have no
exclusive dwelling room. Thus, majority of the households (53.36%) in the State have
either one room for dwelling or have no exclusive dwelling room in their house. The
same trend was prevailing in the State during the last census also. In 1991, 53.01% of
the households had single roomed houses. Households having double-roomed houses
constituted 29.78% and three and above number of rooms formed 17.04%. A marginal
increase in the ratio of households having three rooms and above is noticed during
1991-2001. The ratios of households reported under one room and two rooms have
shown considerable decline during the decade.
Among SC households, 51.66% have single roomed houses and another
22.63% have two-roomed houses. SC households having three rooms and above
constitute 9.83%. About 15.87% SC households do not have exclusive dwelling room.
Among ST households, 50.73% have one dwelling room and 23.02% have two
dwelling rooms. Scheduled Tribe households having three rooms and above constitute
13.87%, which is considerably higher than the corresponding ratio among Scheduled
Castes (9.83%). Scheduled Tribe households having no exclusive dwelling room form
12.38%, which is slightly less than the corresponding ratio among Scheduled Castes
(15.87%). The proportions of Scheduled Tribe households netted under the various
numbers of dwelling rooms indicate that they are more comfortably housed than the
Scheduled Caste households in the State.

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