Page 20 - Lesson Notes

(iv) Disability is supposed to be linked with the disabled individual's self-

perception.
(v) The very idea of disability suggests that they are in need of help.

 Disability, handicap, crippled, blind and deaf are used synonymously.
 Often these are aimed at people as insults.

 In a culture that looks up to bodily ‘perfection’, all deviations from the
‘perfect body’ signify abnormality, defect and distortion.
 Labels such as ‘bechara’ highlight the victim status for the disabled
person.

 The roots of such attitudes lie in the cultural conception views an
impaired body as a result of fate.

 The common perception views disability as retribution for past
karma(actions) from which there can be no reprieve
 The popular images in mythology potray the disabled in an extremely

negative fashion.
 Terms such as ‘mentally challenged’, ‘visually impaired and ‘physically
impaired’ came to replace the more trite negative terms such as

‘retarded’, ‘crippled’ or ‘lame’.
 The disabled are rendered disabled not because they are biologically
disabled but because society renders them so.

 There is a close relationship between disability and poverty.
 Disability creates and exacerbates poverty by increasing isolation and
economic strain, not just for the individual but for the family.

Approaches adopted for the disabled in Census 2011

 Information on disability was collected during Population
Enumeration phase of Census 2011 through ‘household Schedule’

 Questions for disability were asked about all persons in the
household.

 All types of house hold i.e ‘National’, ‘institutional’ and ‘household’
were covered.
 Questions and instructions on disability were finalised after field trial
of selected question, including disability in selected area, extensive

deliberation with civil society organisations and nodal ministry, pre-
test of all census questions covering rural/ urban sample in all states.