Disability rights groups flag gaps in proposed Census 2027 categories

Disability rights organisations and activists have raised concerns over the proposed classification of disabilities for enumeration in Census 2027, saying the nine-category framework does not adequately include several disabilities recognised under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.

The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) said the proposed Census categories — seeing, hearing, speech, mobility, intellectual disability, mental illness, acid attack, chronic neurological disease and blood disorder — did not adequately reflect the 21 “specified disabilities” recognised under the RPwD Act.

The organisation pointed out that six of the proposed categories — seeing, hearing, speech, mobility, intellectual disability and mental illness — essentially carry forward the categories used in the 2011 Census, with “mental retardation” renamed “intellectual disability”. The additions are acid attack, chronic neurological disease and blood disorder.

The NPRD, citing information shared by the Politics & Disability Forum, said the proposed framework was particularly concerning in view of an assurance by Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale that data on all 21 disabilities would be captured in the Census.

The RPwD Act recognises a wide range of conditions, including cerebral palsy, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder and multiple sclerosis. Activists said several of these conditions had not been distinctly represented in the proposed Census categories. Autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disabilities, dwarfism, leprosy-cured persons and multiple disabilities were among those they said risked being left out.

They also questioned the decision to subsume conditions such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease under a broader “chronic neurological disease” category.

Similarly, haemophilia, thalassemia and sickle-cell disease — which are separately recognised under the RPwD Act — would be grouped as “blood disorder”.

The organisations said such broad categorisation could affect the quality of data generated by enumerators and result in an undercount of specific disability groups. “Census must reflect the progress made in disability rights law, not perpetuate outdated and inadequate classifications,” they said.

The groups warned that gaps in enumeration could have consequences beyond statistical reporting, potentially affecting policy formulation, programme design, budgetary allocations and monitoring of government schemes for persons with disabilities.

They demanded that the disability questionnaire for Census 2027 should individually capture all 21 disabilities specified under the RPwD Act, 2016. “Nothing less is acceptable,” the organisations said.