Labels we use, images we conjure, and policies we design

Abstract

Here are the dangers of utilising vaguely understood and/or inconsistently applied labels when it comes to policy making. I was once part of a discussion about how many persons with a disability reside in India. One would think that we would have a reasonably fair idea, but we do not seem to. At least, not everyone agrees on the number.

In our country, estimates about numbers of persons with a disability vary from the most recent census number of 26.8 million to around 100 million. That got me thinking: either we do not know how to count or there is something more sinister going on. Further discussions, this time mostly with persons who had some functional limitation, unearthed two camps that brought to fore the importance of the disability label. Read more at: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/iim-bangalore/labels-we-use-images-we-conjure-and-policies-we-design/47651/1