New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) A coalition of disability rights organisations and activists have raised concern over the manner of proposed enumeration of persons with disabilities in Census 2027, saying the nine categories in the form do not cover all 21 disabilities recognised under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.
A statement, issued by the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) and endorsed by 405 signatories, said the proposed classification could result in several groups being left out of official disability statistics.
According to the statement, the proposed Census framework has nine categories — seeing, hearing, speech, mobility, intellectual disability, mental illness, acid attack, chronic neurological disease and blood disorder.
The groups said the first six categories, barring the change in terminology from “Mental Retardation” to “Intellectual Disability”, were also part of the 2011 enumeration. Acid attack, chronic neurological diseases and blood disorders are proposed as additional categories, they said.
The RPwD Act, however, recognises 21 specified disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, haemophilia, thalassemia, sickle-cell disease and multiple disabilities including deafblindness.
The organisations said disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disabilities, dwarfism, leprosy-cured persons and multiple disabilities, including deafblindness, have not been distinctly provided for in the proposed categories.
They also questioned the grouping of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease under broader categories.
Thalassemia, haemophilia and sickle-cell disease have been brought under the single category of “blood disorder”, they said.
The groups warned that such a classification could affect not only the accuracy of the Census but also subsequent government planning.
“Apart from leaving enumerators clueless, this exercise will produce inaccurate data and render entire groups of persons with disabilities invisible in official statistics,” the statement said.
It said the impact would extend to policy-making, programme design, budgetary allocations and accountability.
The groups also referred to an assurance given by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale that data on all 21 disabilities would be captured, saying the reported nine-category framework was contrary to that assurance.
The organisations have demanded that the Census 2027 disability questionnaire individually capture all 21 disabilities recognised under the RPwD Act.
“Census must reflect the progress made in disability rights law, not perpetuate outdated and inadequate classifications,” the statement said.
The signatories include disability rights advocates, researchers and representatives of organisations such as Disability Rights Alliance, Sense International India, Action For Autism, Sruti Disability Rights Centre, Disability Rights Association of Goa and the National Association for the Blind. PTI AO RT
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