KATHMANDU, Sep 29: Stating that they have been largely excluded by the census, the disabled people of Nepal have demanded the government to enlist the actual number of such people in the upcoming census. Though the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) had included disabled people since the 2001 census, the statistics missed out on several disabled people, according to the National Federation of the Disabled-Nepal (NFDN), the umbrella organization of physically challenged people.
They fear that insufficient sampling of disabled people in the census can affect the lives of the disabled people as the government largely depends on the data while announcing the budget and overall development projects.
“We demand to include all disabled people into various categories with their disabilities in the forthcoming census,” said Manish Prasai, administrative manager at the federation.
Prasai complained that the government has been showing double standard while treating the disable people. “The government always commits to prioritize backward community, disabled people and senior citizens, but it never keeps its own words,” said Prasai adding, “Before conducting sampling process, the government should focus on the number of disabled people throughout the country, their disabilities, and their situation.”
The 2011 census shows only two percent of the total population as disabled people. The rights activists say the census was incomplete as the enumerators were never trained on how to include disabled people.