DISABILITY In INDIA : An Overview Presented by: Ms. Amitpal Kaur

Census of India 2011 towards a bright future...

Census in India In 1872 the first Census was held in India. Since then, Census in India held uninterruptedly. The Census of India 2011 was the 15th Census and the 7th after Independence. 3

Wealth of Information It’s the biggest source of comprehensive data on : Demography Economic Activity Literacy & Education Housing & Household Amenities Urbanization Fertility and Mortality Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Language, Religion & Migration

Census - Utility Only source of primary data at village, town and ward level. Valuable information for planning and formulation of polices for Central & State Governments Widely used by National & International agencies, scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more. Compared to other areas of statistics such as labour force, education, women, and older people, disability statistics has not been well developed or utilized. It is only very recently that governments have begun to recognize the urgency and importance of such statistics for better policies and program developments. 5

What is disability? World Health Organization (WHO) : Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and Participation restrictions.  Impairment is a problem in body function or structure  activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action  while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations.

Acc to Census 2001 “ A person with disability means a person suffering from not less than 40% of any disability as certified by medical authority. “

Two kinds of Disability 1. Mental Disability 1.Mental Retardation, 2.Mental Illness 2. Physical Disability: 1.Blindness 2.Hearing Disability 3.Speech Disability 4.Locomotor Disability 8JSS Law College

 Increasing International Attention and Action.  To collect and analyze relevant data to improve understanding of situation of people with disability.  To measure the prevalence of disability.  To provide a demographic and socioeconomic profile of persons with disabilities. Disability Statistics: Why?

The first data collected on disability is in the year 1881, in which data is collected on physical disability, mental disability as well as on leprosy. The Collection of data on disability was continued from 1881 to however due to some serious doubts expressed by census commissioners, about the authenticity and quality of data, it was discontinued during 1941 census.

Total number of disabled persons in undivided India Census Year Total population * Total disabled population Percentage to total population Infirmity - Type InsanityDeaf- muteness BlindnessLeprosy ,896,330937, ,132197,215526,748131, ,314,671856, ,279196,861458,868126, ,361,056670, ,205153,168354,10497, ,156,396833, ,006199,891443,653109, ,942,480860, ,305189,644479,637102, ,837,7781,095, ,304230,895601,370147,911

Disability Status According to the Census crore people with disabilities in India ( 2.13 %) 58% males & 42 % females 49 % are literate. Only 34 % are employed.

Location of the Disabled Persons  Rural 75%  Urban 25%

Decomposition of Disabled Population by Type of Age-Group  More than 50% have Age less than 30  25% are of age 50 or more

Percentage distribution of the disabled by type India 2001 Source: Census of India 2001

Highest Number Of Disabled  Uttar Pradesh (3.6 million).  Bihar (1.9 million)  West Bengal (1.8million)  Tamil Nadu (1.6 million each). Tamil Nadu is the only state, which has a higher number of disabled females than males.

Disability Status Disability data as per Census India Movement28% 2.Seeing 49% 3.Hearing 6% 4.Speech 7% 5.Mental 10% Disability data as per National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) Movement51% 2.Seeing 14% 3.Hearing 15% 4.Speech 10% 5.Mental 10%

This difference can be explained by the lack of universal definitions and criteria of disabilities used during the surveys.

10% of the world’s population experiences some form of disability or impairment (WHO Action Plan ). World Bank Report In India, people with disabilities comprise between 5 and 8 per cent of the Indian population (around 55 – 90 million individuals).

Disability Data of Few Countries

Causes and Risk Factors of Disability The most common causes of impairment and disability include serious illness during childhood, head injury in childhood and pregnancy and birth related causes, chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer; injuries such as those due to road traffic crashes, falls, landmines, mental impairments, birth defects, malnutrition, and other communicable diseases.

Causes and Risk Factors of Disability World Bank study says that “ most of the disabled people are undisputedly amongst the poorest of the poor. Chronic poverty conditions enhance the risk of illness, injury and impairment and thus disability World Bank reported in 2007 that in India, disability is associated with lower socio-economic status.

10 million people are severely mentally ill in India while 5% of the population suffer from depression. WHO Mental Health Action Plan Report,2012 WHO estimates that about 1,70,000 deaths by suicides occur every year in India. The maximum suicide rate is in the age of years.

According to WHO countries like India devote less than 1% of their health budgets to mental health compared to 10%, 12%, 18% in other countries.

Social Isolation Families believed that they could not include the disabled person – in social occasions & gatherings and are definitely dependent on them

Attitude of Disabled People

They even have their own Olympics!

Conclusion As you have seen, people with disabilities are unseen and unaccounted in our country. There is a huge underestimation of number of people with disabilities. As a result, people with disabilities do not have the necessary facilities. You can make a big difference in the lives of people with disability by counting them in the upcoming Census and by providing authentic data on disability. And feel that they are not disabled, they are differently abled.