Urging people with disabilities (PWDs) to come forward and make themselves count in the 2011 census, speakers at a UP state zone consultation on census 2011 and disability said that headcount of people with disabilities would definitely make a positive difference.
"It is for the first time in India, that people with multiple disabilities will be a part of Census 2011. The census will not only include the number of people in each disabled category but also recognise diseases like dyslexia and autism as forms of disability,'' said Javed Abidi, convener of an advocacy group for PWD. He said that disability, which was included in various census conducted by British India was discontinued after 1951.
"In 1999, PWD took the street and compelled the government to insert the question on disability in the 2001 census. But that was a last minute addition, only the basic umbrella disabilities (namely vision, speech, audio, movement and mental) were covered. With the addition of three more categories in the segment, the complete picture would come to fore," said Abidi.
Census 2011 has added mental illness, mental retardation and multiple disabilities in the list of type of disability, besides the five basic categories. An insertion into this list would allow the enumerator to take a note of the disability like autism, progeria, inherited bleeding disorders (thalassemia or haemophilia), epileptic seizures, specific learning disabilities (dyslexia).
According to Census 2001, the total number of disabled people in India was 2.1 per cent of the total population. However, as per UN, around 10 per cent of the Indian population was disabled. "There is a huge gap between the two data, which means that a large number of the disabled are yet to be counted. But many people try to hide the disability because of stigma. We urge them to come out and get themselves counted," said Amitabh Mehrotra founder of SPARC India, a school for PWDs.
