Health is a prime concern in the world, irrespective of rural or urban, affluent or poor, across all age groups and genders. Studies have confirmed that the disability rate rises with increasing proportions of the population who are urban dwellers. The present study therefore explores disability in urban India, especially the inter-city variation and differences in the types of disability for million-plus cities. Furhter assessed work participation among the disabled population and the critical dependency using data from the Census of India, 2011. The analysis considers age and sex differences for the disabled population of the million-plus cities in India. We found that 3.83 million (2.4%) urban population in million-plus cities have different types of disability. The highest share (nearly 4%) of the disabled population is found in each of the three cities, namely, Bhopal UA, Hyderabad UA, and Ghaziabad UA. The disabled population share in million-plus cities is generally low from the north towards the south and from the west towards the east. Cities in western and central states show a high proportion of disability, and cities in southern states (mainly Kerala and Tamil Nadu) show a low share of the disabled population. Low disability is also found among females compared to males. The prevalence of disability in hearing and seeing is more common in most of the million-plus cities in India. A noticeable share of the disabled population is found among the young to middle-aged population (0–19 years and 20–40 years age groups). Half of the independent disabled population are nonworkers, with females predominantly nonworkers across all age groups. As most of the disabled population are not engaged in any work, this may lead the higher dependency. Therefore, the need for health awareness, policy implications, and effective planning towards sustainable urban development is realized.

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Disability Prevalence in Million-Plus Cities, India: A Comparative Analysis

  • Sasmita Rout,
  • Sankar Paul,
  • Rabi Narayan Behera

摘要

Health is a prime concern in the world, irrespective of rural or urban, affluent or poor, across all age groups and genders. Studies have confirmed that the disability rate rises with increasing proportions of the population who are urban dwellers. The present study therefore explores disability in urban India, especially the inter-city variation and differences in the types of disability for million-plus cities. Furhter assessed work participation among the disabled population and the critical dependency using data from the Census of India, 2011. The analysis considers age and sex differences for the disabled population of the million-plus cities in India. We found that 3.83 million (2.4%) urban population in million-plus cities have different types of disability. The highest share (nearly 4%) of the disabled population is found in each of the three cities, namely, Bhopal UA, Hyderabad UA, and Ghaziabad UA. The disabled population share in million-plus cities is generally low from the north towards the south and from the west towards the east. Cities in western and central states show a high proportion of disability, and cities in southern states (mainly Kerala and Tamil Nadu) show a low share of the disabled population. Low disability is also found among females compared to males. The prevalence of disability in hearing and seeing is more common in most of the million-plus cities in India. A noticeable share of the disabled population is found among the young to middle-aged population (0–19 years and 20–40 years age groups). Half of the independent disabled population are nonworkers, with females predominantly nonworkers across all age groups. As most of the disabled population are not engaged in any work, this may lead the higher dependency. Therefore, the need for health awareness, policy implications, and effective planning towards sustainable urban development is realized.