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The Hindu
a day ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Disability-related questions in Census must be framed differently, say rights groups
Past population counts, including the last Census in 2011, have historically undercounted people with disabilities, according to rights activists and experts who have written to the Office of the Registrar General of India, seeking a 'shift in approach' to framing disability-related questions in the upcoming Census exercise. In the past, 'simplistic' questions with negative connotations, posed by enumerators with minimal training, wthout considering accessibility concerns, have all contributed to low disclosure, they said, claiming that the 2011 Census had counted 'only 2.21%' of the country's disabled population per some estimates. They sought time to make suggestions for better methodologies for the upcoming Census. After delaying the 2021 Census, the Union government on June 16 notified dates for the next Census, to be completed by March 2027. 'Most undercounted' The 2011 Census recorded about 2.68 crore people with disabilities (PwD) across the country. In their letter to the ORGI and the Secretaries of the Home and Statistics Ministries, disability rights organisation Nipman Foundation and policy think tank The Quantum Hub noted that extrapolations from the World Health Organisation's global estimates suggested that India had at least 200 million, or 20 crore, people with disabilities – almost ten times what was counted in the Census in 2011. In the letter, Nipman Foundation founder Nipun Malhotra said that PwDs are amongst the 'most undercounted' populations in the country. He argued that the 2011 Census had under-reported the number of PwDs in the country because of several factors, including 'simplistic' questions being framed with 'negative connotations' given the existing social stigma. Mr. Malhotra said that questions that asked whether one was mentally or physically disabled, only providing space for a 'yes/no' answer, resulted in low disclosure. 'Moreover, enumerators also received minimal training in disability awareness, contributing further to under-reporting,' he said in the letter. 'Improve accessibility, question formats' He added that the Census process must also be made accessible through the use of Indian Sign Language, Braille, and screen-reader friendly documents, further urging authorities to employ interpreters to ensure meaningful participation of disabled people. The rights group argued that the Washington Group on Disability Statistics, under the UN Statistical Commission, 'offers a more functional approach'. This involves a six-question set, which Mr. Malhotra said was 'most suitable' for national Censuses. For instance, one questions is, 'Do you have difficulty seeing, even if wearing glasses?', and provides a graded response scale, from 'No difficulty at all' to 'Cannot do it at all'. The Nipman Foundation further posited that this was 'much-improved methodology compared to the present approach'. 'These changes are critical to ensuring more accurate and inclusive data collection,' it said in the letter.
Time of India
a day ago
- Health
- Time of India
Assam makes strides in reducing Maternal Mortality, Infant Mortality and Under 5 Mortality ratios
Assam shows great improvement in reducing Maternal Mortality Ratio, Infant Mortality Rate and Under 5 Mortality Rate. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shares the state's progress since 2001. Assam's MMR is now better than several other states. The state government will provide jobs and is working to boost the animal husbandry sector. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Guwahati: Assam has made promising strides towards reducing the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and the Under 5 Mortality Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said this on Thursday while adding that while the recent reports of Sample Registration System (SRS) published by the Office of the Registrar General of India the MMR of Assam has come down to said that historically, Assam recorded the highest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country till the last SRS report of 2018-20. In 2001-03, the MMR in Assam was 490 per 1 lakh live births. At that time, the national MMR was 301.'The maternal health conditions were poor and the health infrastructure in the state was unable to provide necessary support to our mothers. In the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been undertaken, especially in the last 10 years, for which, significant improvement has been observed in reduction of maternal mortality,' the Chief Minister said adding that with the wholehearted efforts of Government of Assam in the last 20 years, the MMR has improved to 125 in 2020-22 from 490 in said that the Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2020-22 was released in the month of June 2025. 'As per SRS 2020-22, MMR of Assam has come down to 125 with a further 42 points (25.1%) drop in MMR compared to 2019-21. This shows 70 points (36%) drop in MMR in just 2 years. No other States in the Country have shown such decline,' he said, adding that Assam's MMR is now better than Madhya Pradesh (159), Chhattisgarh (141), Uttar Pradesh (141) and Odisha (136) as per SRS 2020-22.'It is a great achievement for the State of Assam to bring such a great reduction of MMR even during the period of COVID pandemic,' he Chief Minister further added that it is not just MMR, but Infant Mortality rate also has improved tremendously. 'The IMR in 2005 in Assam was 68, way above the national IMR of 58, being one of the last states in the country. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of Assam improved to 36 as per SRS (2020). It has come down to 34 as per SRS (2021) and further down to 32 as per SRS (2022),' he said adding that in terms of IMR, Assam's performance is at par with Orissa (32) and better than Uttar Pradesh (38), Chattisgarh (38) and Madhya Pradesh (40).'From 68 in 2005, we have improved to 32 by 2020-22, almost reducing IMR to 1/3rd,'he said, adding that the Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) was as high as 88 per 1000 live births in 2008. This has also come down from 40 (SRS 2020) to 37 (SRS 2021) and further down to 35 (SRS 2022), almost reducing to 1/3rd,' Sarma said.'Similarly, our neonatal mortality rate also has improved from 33 per 1000 live births in 2005 to 22 in 2020-22,' he said adding that improvement in health infrastructure, improvement in health Human Resources (HR), Motivated and incentivised ASHA(s) and grassroots workers, improved health service delivery and the social support programmes contributed towards this stated that nearly 40,000 youths would be provided government jobs in a single recruitment drive scheduled for 10 appointment letters were distributed to 443 Veterinary Field Assistants in the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department, 12 Tourism Development Officers in the Tourism Department, and 23 DIET Lecturers and 3 SCERT Assistant Directors in the rank of Assistant Professors under the Education Department. With the inclusion of these 481 appointments, the total number of government jobs secured under the present administration now stands at 1,20, expressed confidence that the State Government is well on course to reach a total of 1.60 lakh appointments by 10 October. He emphasised that the transparent nature of this recruitment process has not only upheld merit, but also played a vital role in fostering a more robust educational ecosystem across the his attention to the animal husbandry sector, the Chief Minister underscored its growing importance in the vision of a self-reliant Assam. He noted that, while this sector has increasingly become a pillar of the rural economy, Assam still lags behind other states in fully realising its potential. To address this, he stated that the government has partnered with the National Dairy Development Board to establish the North East Dairy and Foods Limited – an initiative aimed at producing, processing, and distributing 10 lakh litres of milk daily. He highlighted a series of infrastructural developments already underway to support this goal, including the setup of milk processing centres with one lakh litre capacities in Dhemaji, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Cachar, a 25,000 litre unit in Bajali, and a three lakh litre facility in Guwahati. He further mentioned that a new 1 lakh litre milk processing unit would also be established in Rani, near Guwahati by AMUL. These efforts, he affirmed, would serve as an incentive for farmers across Assam to expand stated that the state government would provide a subsidy of Rs. 5 per litre for milk brought in for processing. He added that the College of Veterinary Science, in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board, is working to develop a new breed by crossbreeding Assam's indigenous Lakhimi cows with Gujarat's high-yielding Gir breed. Additionally, he shared that efforts are also underway to improve yield through artificial insemination. With these measures, he affirmed, the government aims to scale Assam's daily milk production to 15 lakh litres by livestock development, the Chief Minister emphasised the state's renewed focus on poultry and duck farming, noting that 90% of Assam's daily egg demand is currently met through imports. He observed that if merely 1,000 entrepreneurs' step forward, the state could achieve a daily production of one crore eggs within three years. Despite the Northeast hosting the country's largest pork market, he lamented the region's insufficient local production and stressed the government's commitment to addressing this gap. He also highlighted a national campaign to promote biogas and bio-CNG production, adding that efforts are underway to enable dairy enterprises to generate these from cattle dung - an initiative poised to offer farmers a valuable supplementary income stream.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Hyderabad to adopt new birth, death registration system
HYDERABAD: As part of efforts to implement a uniform system for birth and death registration across the country, Hyderabad is set to adopt the new Civil Registration System (CRS), also known as the Registration of Birth and Death Rules 2022. The CRS is managed by the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Currently, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) uses its own software for online registration of births and deaths. However, several instances of fake birth and death certificates being issued have come to light, prompting the termination of health assistants and computer operators and the suspension of some Assistant Medical Officers of Health (AMOHs). Once Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy clears the file, GHMC will switch to the ORGI's CRS platform to curb such malpractices and ensure uniformity. GHMC officials told TNIE that the move aligns with ORGI's push to standardise registration processes, certificate issuance and statistical data generation. The CRS software developed by ORGI is already being adopted in various states, Union Territories and cities across India. Officials said the software allows real-time monitoring of data, tracks registration activity, preserves records digitally and ensures issuance of uniform certificates with a unique registration number for every event.
Economic Times
12-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Census data to be ready within nine months? Govt bets on tech to speed up 2027 exercise
Agencies Representative image The upcoming Census 2027 could deliver its final population figures by the end of the same year, a significant improvement over previous exercises, thanks to a digital-first approach that will use mobile apps for data collection and intelligent systems for real-time in the government said the time taken to publish detailed population data — including gender-wise breakups at national, state, district and taluk levels — may be compressed to just nine months from the date of enumeration. In the 2011 Census, this process had stretched over nearly two years, according to a ToI report. The government has set March 1, 2027, as the reference date for the next Census. Originally scheduled for 2020, the decadal count was delayed due to the Covid-19 2027 Census will be conducted in two parts — a house-listing phase in 2026, followed by population enumeration in February 2027. For the first time, enumerators will be equipped with a mobile application to capture data digitally, replacing the bulky paper forms of the past. Available in 16 languages, including Hindi, English and 14 regional options, the app is designed to be simple to use for both officials and the public. Citizens will also have the option of self-enumeration, the sources said. The app-based format will offer dropdown menus, auto-fetching of house records, and the ability to edit entries on the spot — all of which are expected to speed up data collection and reduce manual most of the responses pre-coded and digitised, the need for manual compilation of summaries or abstracts will be eliminated. The mobile application will feed directly into back-end systems using Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) tools, which will help process even semi-structured information questions requiring descriptive or non-numeric responses, officials have prepared a code directory to guide enumerators in selecting standardised entries, further cutting down processing time. To support the massive digital operation, the Office of the Registrar General of India has also built a Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) portal, which will help track and coordinate progress across all stages. If the process unfolds as planned, this will be the fastest turnaround yet for a Census in India — and the most technologically advanced. (With inputs from ToI)
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Census data to be ready within nine months? Govt bets on tech to speed up 2027 exercise
The upcoming Census 2027 could deliver its final population figures by the end of the same year, a significant improvement over previous exercises, thanks to a digital-first approach that will use mobile apps for data collection and intelligent systems for real-time processing. Sources in the government said the time taken to publish detailed population data — including gender-wise breakups at national, state, district and taluk levels — may be compressed to just nine months from the date of enumeration. In the 2011 Census, this process had stretched over nearly two years, according to a ToI report. The government has set March 1, 2027, as the reference date for the next Census. Originally scheduled for 2020, the decadal count was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Daughter thought she had saved 'cute bunnies.' The vet pales when he realizes what they really are Cleverst Mobile apps in 16 languages to power enumeration The 2027 Census will be conducted in two parts — a house-listing phase in 2026, followed by population enumeration in February 2027. For the first time, enumerators will be equipped with a mobile application to capture data digitally, replacing the bulky paper forms of the past. Available in 16 languages, including Hindi, English and 14 regional options, the app is designed to be simple to use for both officials and the public. Citizens will also have the option of self-enumeration , the sources said. Live Events The app-based format will offer dropdown menus, auto-fetching of house records, and the ability to edit entries on the spot — all of which are expected to speed up data collection and reduce manual errors. Data processing to be near-instantaneous With most of the responses pre-coded and digitised, the need for manual compilation of summaries or abstracts will be eliminated. The mobile application will feed directly into back-end systems using Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) tools, which will help process even semi-structured information swiftly. For questions requiring descriptive or non-numeric responses, officials have prepared a code directory to guide enumerators in selecting standardised entries, further cutting down processing time. To support the massive digital operation, the Office of the Registrar General of India has also built a Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) portal, which will help track and coordinate progress across all stages. If the process unfolds as planned, this will be the fastest turnaround yet for a Census in India — and the most technologically advanced.
