Lawmakers have expressed concern about the total number of disabled people in India, which currently stands at 2.68 crore based on the Census of 2011, as they feel that the figure does not reflect the numbers of disabled people in actuality.
The Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has now asked the government to have a realistic assessment to allocate resources better.
The committee in its report ‘Review of the functioning of National Institutes established for different types of disabilities’ has said that since the available figures are a decade old, the committee has expressed their concern on whether the figure is “actually reflective of the current status of disabled population”.
“The committee feel that the actual number of disabled people could be much higher, as the available figure is more than 10 years old. Therefore, they believe that the department (of persons with disabilities) is aware of the estimated number of PwDs (people with disabilities) in the country today in order to project a realistic assessment of resources required, allocation of funds and set reasonable targets,” the report stated.
As per the Census 2011, of 2.68 crore PwDs who account for 2.21 per cent of the total population, approximately 1.5 crore are men and 1.18 crore are women. India recognises 21 disabilities, including visual, hearing, speech and locomotor disabilities, mental illness, mental retardation (intellectual disabilities), and multiple other disabilities.