Handbook of Urban Statistics 2020: Ensuring Visibility of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangs) in Indian Cities

The Census 2011 and the NSS survey of 2018 employed different methodologies and definitions of disability, making their disability prevalence estimates not comparable. The disability rate (DR) for urban India reported by the 2011 Census was 8.1 per cent, while according to data from the 2018 National Sample Survey, this rate stood at 2 per cent.

India's urban population increased from 377 million (31.1 per cent of the total population) in 2011 to an approximate 470 million (34.5 per cent) by 2021. Census 2011 reported around 8 million persons with disabilities lived in urban India, roughly 2.17 per cent of the total urban population.

Following NSS data, the report observes highest prevalence of disability among people from the Scheduled Castes (2.2 per cent) followed by Scheduled Tribes (2 per cent), Other Backward Classes (1.96 per cent) and Others (1.88 per cent). Among all groups, percentage share of people with disabilities is lower in urban areas than rural areas.

Categorised as per the ‘usual monthly per capita consumption expenditure’ (UMPCCE) in NSS 2018, disability is lowest (1.72 per cent) among individuals belonging to the economically richest class (fifth quintile of residents) in urban India and highest (2.33 per cent) among individuals from the economically poorest class (first quintile).

In urban India, 59.1 per cent of persons with disabilities used public transport and 46.8 per cent used public buildings in the 365 days preceding the 2018 NSS survey. Among these people, 65.1 per cent and 63.1 per cent faced difficulties accessing the transport and buildings respectively.

Household access to bathroom facilities in urban India increased from 58.5 per cent in 1993 to 91.2 per cent in 2018.  The report also notes that accessibility is presently higher in urban households (91.2 per cent) than in rural households (68.5 per cent). However, there is extreme variation in state-wise figures – from near universal access in Kerala, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands to lower figures in states like Tripura.

In 2018. the unemployment rate (for people aged 15 years and older) among people with disabilities (6.7 per cent) was slightly lower than the unemployment rate among the overall population (7.6 per cent) in urban India. However, the labour force participation rate (21.9 per cent compared to 47.5 per cent) and the worker population ratio (20.4 per cent compared to 43.9 per cent) were lower too.

In urban India, about 78 per cent of people with disabilities did not receive any aid or support from the government or independent organisations in 2018. The number was higher in metropolitan cities (84.33 per cent) than other cities (76.42 per cent). Of the people who did receive aid, 19.93 per cent received it from the government and 1.68 per cent from other organisations.

Only 29.6 per cent of people with disabilities recorded by the NSS in urban India reported possessing an official certificate of disability issued by a competent government authority. Access to the certificate was found to be relatively higher among men (34.36 per cent) than among women (23.59 per cent) in urban India.

Focus and Factoids by Vaishnavi Iyer.