Disability Definitional Changes (Census 2001-Census 2011)

In Seeing

• One eyed persons were treated as disabled at Census 2001. At the Census 2011 such persons have not been treated as disabled in seeing.
• At the Census 2011 enumerators were asked to apply a simple test to ascertain blurred vision. At Census 2001 no such instructions were given.

In Hearing

• Persons using hearing aid have been treated as disabled at Census 2011. They were not treated as disabled at the Census 2001.
• Persons having problem in hearing through one year although the other ear is functioning normally was considered having hearing disability in census 2001. but in Census 2011, such persons were not considered as disabled.

In Speech

Definition was made clearer in census 2011 to record persons with speech disability. For instance, “persons who speak in single words and are not able to speak in sentences” was specifically mentioned to be treated as disabled.

In Movement

Specific mention of the following was made in the definition for Census 2011:

1. Paralytic persons
2. Those who crawl
3. Those who are able to walk with the help of aid
4. Have acute and permanent problems of joins/muscles
5. Have stiffness or tightness in movement or have loose, involuntary movements or tremors of the body or have fragile bones
6. Have difficulty balancing and coordinating body movement
7. Have loss of sensation in body due to paralysis, leprosy etc.
8. Have deformity of body like hunch back or are dwarf

Mental Retardation

New category introduced at census 2011. Mental Retardation was covered under the category of Mental Disability at Census 2001.

Mental Illness

New category introduced at census 2011. Mental illness was covered under the category of mental disability at Census 2001.

Any Other

New category introduced at Census 2011 to ensure complete coverage. This option enabled respondents to report those disabilities which are not listed in the question. In such cases, where informant was not sure about the type of disability this option of reporting disability as ‘Any Other’ was available to her/him.

Multiple Disability

New category introduced at Census 2011. The question has been designed to record as many as three types of disabilities from which the individual was reported to be suffering.