Disabled People

Health and Mobility

Disabled People

About 2.2% of India’s population lives with some kind of physical or mental disability, as per the National Statistics Office report on disability released last year.

What are the difficulties they face? Here is a profile of the prevalence of disability in India

Cause Description:

  • According to an estimate by the WHO, globally, 15 percent of the population live with some form of disability, while over 80 percent of that share live in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

  • While India is home to over 1.36 billion residents, over 2.2 percent of this population endures some form of severe mental or physical disability.

  • Conceptually, since the condition of disability is rather transient than static, there is no one universal definition of what comprises a disability or who is considered disabled.

  • In India, the list of criteria that categorizes people as disabled was revamped in 2016 and came into effect with the Rights of People with Disabilities act (RPwD) – an established list of disabilities comprising of 21 criteria.

  • According to the Census 2021, the revised definition based on the RPwD act of 2016 also includes the recognition of physical deformities and injuries relative to acid attacks as disabilities which entitles these victims to various forms of governmental aid and support.