DISABILITY In

INDIA : An
Overview

Presented by:
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.

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 Wealth of Information
Its 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.

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 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

JSS Law College 8

 Disability Statistics:
Why?
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.
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 1931. 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 Total Total Percentage Infirmity - Type
Year population disabled to total
* population population

Insanity Deaf- Blindness Leprosy

muteness

1881 253,896,330 937,063 0.37 81,132 197,215 526,748 131,968

1891 287,314,671 856,252 0.30 74,279 196,861 458,868 126,244

1901 294,361,056 670,817 0.23 66,205 153,168 354,104 97,340

1911 315,156,396 833,644 0.26 81,006 199,891 443,653 109,094

1921 318,942,480 860,099 0.27 88,305 189,644 479,637 102,513

1931 352,837,778 1,095,678 0.31 120,304 230,895 601,370 147,911

 Disability Status
According to the Census 2001

2.19 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 2001
1. Movement 28%
2. Seeing 49%
3. Hearing 6%
4. Speech 7%
5. Mental 10%

Disability data as per National Sample Survey

Organisation (NSSO) 2002
1. Movement 51%
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 worlds population experiences
some form of disability or impairment

(WHO Action Plan 2006-2011).

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 15-29
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.