NEW DELHI: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday said the upcoming Census 2027 presents a “historic opportunity” to accurately capture data on all 21 recognised categories of disabilities and enable targeted policymaking for persons with disabilities.Speaking at the launch of a handbook titled ‘Beyond the Visible: A Handbook on Disability Inclusion for Parliamentarians’, Athawale said the exercise would be the first census conducted after the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.He emphasised that improved enumeration and disaggregated data would help the government design effective interventions and ensure better inclusion of persons with disabilities.“The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, was a landmark reform that expanded recognition to 21 disabilities, shifted from a welfare-based to a rights-based approach, and aligned India with the UNCRPD. For the first time, the law explicitly recognised political barriers as a major obstacle for persons with disabilities,” said Athawale, Minister of State of Social Justice and Empowerment.
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The minister also referred to key government initiatives such as the Accessible India Campaign, Unique Disability ID (UDID) portal, skill development programmes under PM-DAKSH, and healthcare efforts under Ayushman Bharat aimed at bringing persons with disabilities into the mainstream.Athawale said the launch of the handbook prepared by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) and Bajaj Finserv and Tuesday’s roundtable discussion will further mainstream the discourse on disability rights and inclusive policymaking, in Parliament and outside.Arman Ali, executive director of NCPEDP, said the handbook aims to help parliamentarians translate legal provisions into actionable policy and address barriers faced by persons with disabilities.“This book will help translate the RPwD Act into real legislative action and make inclusion a lived reality in Indian democracy,” he said.Citing findings of a recent NCPEDP survey, Ali said over 80 per cent of persons with disabilities lack health insurance due to high premiums, exclusion of disability-related treatments and denial of coverage, stressing the need for more inclusive healthcare policies.“Under PM Narendra Modi’s vision of inclusive healthcare, schemes like Ayushman Bharat must explicitly cover persons with disabilities and provide comprehensive, lifelong support, including assistive devices, rehabilitation, and disability-specific care.“The government is committed to removing these barriers so that no person with disability faces catastrophic out-of-pocket expenses,” Ali added.The event also featured a panel discussion on inclusive health coverage and political participation, attended by MPs and political leaders, including Parliamentary Member of the Central Advisory Board on Disability ET Mohammed Basheer, Lok Sabha MP Eatala Rajender, Rajya Sabha MP Fauzia Khan, BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan, BJP’s youth wing vice president Neha Joshi, and NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande.
