Rights groups demand all 21 categories in Census 2027. Disability rights groups have flagged a gap in Census 2027 preparations: the self-enumeration form proposes only 9 disability categories, while the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 recognises 21.
The concern was raised after forms for snowbound areas in J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and HP went live. The second phase starts September 1. Groups led by the National Platform for the Rights of Disabled say this will undercount disabilities and affect policy.
The 2011 Census had 6 categories and counted 2.68 crore persons with disabilities — 2.21% of the population. The RPwD Act 2016 expanded this to 21, including autism, specific learning disability, dwarfism, thalassemia, haemophilia and sickle cell disease.
The current form lists: seeing, hearing, speech, mobility, intellectual disability, mental illness, disability due to acid attack, chronic neurological disease, and blood disorder. Groups argue this collapses distinct conditions. “Thalassemia, haemophilia and sickle-cell get reduced to a single category of ‘blood disorder’,” the statement said.
An official from the Registrar General’s office said the 9 categories are “broader” and that the option to record up to 3 disabilities is available. A 3-day training for enumerators is planned.
But advocates say broad categories without enumerator training will lead to misclassification. Shashank Pandey of the Politics and Disability Forum noted that people with autism or learning disabilities may not be captured correctly if enumerators don’t understand them.
Accurate data is critical. It determines funding, welfare schemes and infrastructure. With half of PwDs in 2011 falling under vision, hearing and locomotor categories, the new forms risk missing the rest.
Groups want the form amended to list all 21 disabilities individually. The Census will shape policy for a decade. For 2.68 crore people counted last time — and many more not counted — the difference between 9 and 21 is not just numbers. It’s visibility.