Disability Groups Demand 21‑Category Census Declared
· India · Times of India, Indian Express
Disability rights organisations in New Delhi have issued a statement demanding that the Census 2027 questionnaire be redesigned to capture all 21 disabilities recognised under the RPwD Act 2016, arguing that the current nine‑category scheme will miss large groups of people with disabilities. The nine categories—seeing, hearing, speech, mobility, intellectual disability, mental illness, acid attack, chronic neurological disease and blood disorder—do not include autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disabilities, dwarfism, leprosy‑cured persons, or multiple disabilities such as deafblindness. The National Platform for Rights of Disabled, backed by 405 signatories, warned that the abbreviated enumeration will produce inaccurate data and render many disabled individuals invisible in official statistics. The article does not report any government reply to the groups’ demands, nor whether the census design will be altered.
Why it matters
People with the omitted disabilities risk being excluded from disability‑related services and funding, as census data determines resource allocation and policy planning.
Read the original report — Times of India
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