Disability moves up Census priority list

Besides,the commission has revised the number of categories from five to eight,enumerating mental illness and mental retardation separately and incorporating a category called multiple disability where one can enumerate upto three disabilities. But what the activists are touting as a major development is the inclusion of a category called “Any other” where autism,dyslexia,Alzheimer and any other disease that doesn’t fit into the other categories can be listed.

In the 2001 Census,a question on disability was included for the first time after the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) and the Disabled Rights Group led by Javed Abidi lobbied hard for the inclusion of what they called the missing millions,the disabled people.

“The numbers of 2001 Census on disability are all wrong. The truth is hiding somewhere between the percentages of 2.1 percentage and 10 percentage. We need to find it,” Abidi said.

In the last census,the five categories included seeing,hearing,speech,movement and mental disabilities. These left out disabilities like cerebral palsy,autism,etc.

But because of a lack of sensitization exercises for the enumerators and the people with disabilities and their families,a large number of disabled were not enumerated. As per the 2001 census,the percentage of the disabled in the country was pegged at 2.1 percent as against the UN estimates of 10 percent of the population in any developing country is composed of disabled.

Abidi said in the current census exercise which will begin from February 9,NGOs like AADI and Vishwas have been involved in training the enumerators on the disability question.

The NCPEDP has designed the Instruction Manual for Census 2011 Enumerators with guidelines for enumerators who would be conducting the surveys. It goes on to list the disabilities and what doesn’t qualify as a disability like a person with vision in one eye or a person who is color blind are not to be enumerated as disabled.

With just three more weeks before the exercise begins,the NGOs and activists who met in Delhi at an event organized by AADI (Action for Ability Development and Inclusion) and NCPEDP brainstormed about what they can do to help raise awareness among the people.

Operating with a limitation of funds and resources,it would require reaching out to other NGOs in other sectors in states like UP and Bihar where there aren’t many disability NGOs to spread the word,G Syamala,Executive Director of AADI,said. “We have to see our strength is. We don’t have much time,” Syamala said.