1 week ago
Disability Groups Seek All 21 Categories in Census 2027
India is preparing to count people in the 2027 census.
The form currently lists nine broad types of disability.
Disability rights groups say the law recognizes 21 types and wants each one counted separately.
They are especially concerned about conditions such as autism, learning disabilities, thalassemia and sickle-cell disease.
Government officials say the nine groups are broad enough to include more specific conditions.
The form also lets people list up to three disabilities in order of seriousness.
Officials say census workers are trained but may not be experts who can assess every disability.
Rights groups fear that less detailed information could lead to weaker planning and funding for disabled people.
Rights groups object to a Census 2027 questionnaire listing nine broad disability categories.
They want all 21 disabilities recognized under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, recorded separately.
Self-enumeration for snowbound areas began August 17 and remains open until August 31.
The Registrar General’s Office says the nine categories cover specific disabilities and allow up to three disabilities to be recorded.
Activists warn insufficiently detailed data could make some disabilities invisible and affect policies, budgets and programmes.
- Who
- Disability rights groups, including the National Platform for the Rights of Disabled and more than 400 signatories, are challenging the proposed format; the Office of the Registrar General of India supports the broader-category approach.
- What
- The groups want Census 2027 to record all 21 disabilities recognized under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act individually, rather than using nine broad categories.
- Where
- The initial self-enumeration exercise covers snowbound areas in Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh.
- When
- Self-enumeration for snowbound areas began August 17 and is available until August 31; population enumeration is scheduled for September 1–30, followed by a revisional round from October 1–5.
- Why
- Rights groups say separate data is needed for accurate policymaking, programme design, budget allocation and accountability, while officials say broader categories are more practical for census workers.
Disability Rights Groups
Registrar General’s Office
Separate disability categories
Disability Rights Groups
All 21 disabilities recognized under the 2016 law should be recorded individually so that specific groups are visible in official statistics.
Registrar General’s Office
The nine listed categories are broader classifications that include other detailed disabilities.
Quality of enumeration
Disability Rights Groups
Without a training module covering specific disabilities, broad categories could produce inaccurate or incomplete data, particularly for people who cannot communicate or understand their disability classification.
Registrar General’s Office
Enumerators and supervisors receive three days of training, and field workers are not technically qualified to assess or confirm different disabilities.
Policy consequences
Disability Rights Groups
Aggregated data could undermine policymaking, programme design, budgetary allocations and accountability for conditions such as sickle-cell disease and thalassemia.
Registrar General’s Office
The 2027 Census includes more disability categories than the 2011 Census, and the questionnaire permits recording multiple disabilities.
Key facts
- Proposed categories
- Nine broad disability categories are listed: seeing, hearing, speech, mobility, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, acid-attack disability, chronic neurological disease and blood disorder.
- Legal benchmark
- The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 recognizes 21 disability categories.
- 2011 Census
- The 2011 Census counted 2.68 crore persons with disabilities, or 2.21% of the country's population, across six categories.
- Multiple disabilities
- The Census 2027 questionnaire allows up to three disabilities to be recorded in order of severity.
- New categories
- Acid attack, chronic neurological disease and blood disorder are newly included compared with the 2011 Census categories.
- Rights-group concern
- Groups say autism, specific learning disabilities, dwarfism, leprosy-cured persons, deafblindness, thalassemia, haemophilia and sickle-cell disease are not distinctly identified.
- Government explanation
- A senior Registrar General's Office official said the nine categories are broader classifications that include more specific disabilities and followed consultations with relevant stakeholders.
Quotes
Shashank Pandey, founder Politics and Disability Forum
Founder and lawyer at Politics and Disability Forum
“The prescription of broad categories without notification of a training module for enumerators to understand specific disabilities under each broad category will be double jeopardy for PwDs who neither communicate nor understand their correct disability.”
indianexpress.com
“It is deplorable that conditions like autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disabilities, dwarfism, leprosy‑cured persons and multiple disabilities, including deafblindness, have not been distinctly placed under disability category.”
indianexpress.com
Senior official, Office of the Registrar General of India
Official representing the Office of the Registrar General of India
“The nine categories mentioned in the population enumeration questionnaire are broader categories which include other detailed specific disabilities. Additionally, the option to record multiple disabilities (up to three), in the order of severity, is available in the questionnaire.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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