Persons with Disabilities in India: NSS 76th round (July-December 2018)

This report was published on November 23, 2019, by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. It is based on the ‘Survey of Persons with Disabilities in India’ conducted by the NSO as part of the 76th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) between July and December 2018. This is the fourth edition of the survey, the first of which was conducted in the year 1981. The report estimates and presents data on the prevalence of disabilities in India, facilities available to persons with disabilities, difficulties faced by them in accessing public infrastructure, caregivers, and more. A ‘person with disability’ is defined as someone with a long-term mental, physical, intellectual, or sensory impairment, who is unable to fully and effectively participate in society when faced with barriers – “communicational, cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, political, social, attitudinal or structural.” The report considers any impairment that has lasted for 12 months or more to be ‘long-term’. The survey was spread over 8,992 ‘first stage units’ across India. It covered 118,152 households – 81,004 in rural and 37,148 in urban areas. About a sixth of the respondents – 106,894 people – were persons with disabilities...