Indian Census is not confined only to headcount. It is mandated for collecting, compiling and releasing a lot of information about human being.
The release of data on disabled population is one amongst it. The data on disability was collected through the Censuses during 1872 to 1931. But it was discontinued from 1941 to 1971. Again during 1981, the information on disability was collected, but it was again discontinued in 1991. Again, the question on disability was included and information was collected on five types of disabilities in the 2001 Census.
In the 2011 Census, the information has been collected on eight types of disability. These are (1) in Seeing, (2) in Hearing, (3) in Speech, (4) in Movement, (5) Mental Retardation, (6) Mental Illness, (7) Any Other and (8) Multiple Disability.
As per the 2001 Census, there were 10,21,335 disabled persons in Odisha. Out of them, 5,68,914 were males and 4,52,421 females. The sex ratio of disabled persons was 795 during this census. As per the 2011 Census, the total disabled population is 12,44,402, registering a growth of 21.84 per cent during the decade. Out of the total disabled persons in the State, 6,74,775 are males and 5,69,627 are females. The sex ratio of disabled persons has been increased from 795 to 844 during the decade.
The percentage of the State’s disabled population to total population has increased from 2.78 in the 2001 Census to 2.96 in the 2011 Census. Among Scheduled Castes, 3.32 per cent are disabled whereas amongst scheduled tribes 2.65 percent are disabled. Out of the 12,44,402 disabled population of the state, 2,38,357 are Scheduled Castes (19.15 per cent) and 2,53,779 are Scheduled Tribes (20.39 per cent). The sex ratio of SC disabled persons is 836 and for STs, it is 943.
A total of 21.20 per cent of the disabled persons are reported in the category of Seeing, 19.11 per cent in Hearing, 5.51 per cent in Speech, 20.89 per cent in Movement, 5.82 per cent in Mental Retardation, 13.9 per cent are in Any Other category and 10.14 per cent are Multiple Disability. During the 2001 Census, 50.34 per cent were disabled in Seeing, 6.72 per cent in Speech, 8.24 per cent in Hearing, 24.56 per cent in Movement and 10.14 per cent under the Mental Disability category.
The data on disability recorded during the 2011 Census are not comparable with that of the 2001 Census due to the change in definition. Four new categories, that is, mental retardation, mental illness, any other and multiple disability were introduced in the 2011 Census. Mental retardation and mental illness had been covered under the category of mental disability in the Census of 2001.
It is revealed from the disabled data that the highest percentage of disabled persons in Odisha is found in the age group 10-19 years (15.09 per cent) followed by the age group 20-29 (13.34) while 4.03 per cent of the disabled persons are reported in the age group 0-4, 6.69 per cent in the age group of 5-9, 12.22 per cent in the age group 30-39, 11.75 per cent in the age group 50-59, 12.69 per cent in the age group 60-69, 9.28 per cent in the age group 70-79, 3.54 per cent in the age group 80-89 and 0.88 per cent in the age group of 90+.
It is revealed that the disabled persons are found more in the medium age group compared to child and older age groups. The highest percentage of disabled population is in the category of seeing and reported in the age group 60-69 (16.16%); the highest percentage of disability in hearing (15.23%), in speech (22.52%), in mental retardation (25.42%), in any other category (17.04%) and multiple disability category (16.41%) is reported in the age group of 10-19.
The highest percentage of disability in movement (16.27%) is reported in the age group of 60-69 and under the mental illness category and the highest percentage (22.24%) is reported in the age group of 30-39.
(The writer is the Chief of Census Operations in Odisha)