Past population counts, including the last Census in 2011, have historically undercounted people with disabilities, according to rights activists and experts who have written to the Office of the Registrar General of India, seeking a “shift in approach” to framing disability-related questions in the upcoming Census exercise.
In the past, “simplistic” questions with negative connotations, posed by enumerators with minimal training, wthout considering accessibility concerns, have all contributed to low disclosure, they said, claiming that the 2011 Census had counted “only 2.21%” of the country’s disabled population per some estimates. They sought time to make suggestions for better methodologies for the upcoming Census.
After delaying the 2021 Census, the Union government on June 16 notified dates for the next Census, to be completed by March 2027.
Citizens with disabilities, making their rights real
‘Most undercounted’
