Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Making disability count: On why NFHS will yield more robust data on the disability sector

Making disability count: On why NFHS will yield more robust data on the disability sector

Including disability in the NHFS-6 will serve (be useful or beneficial to) the government well

The significance of data in influencing (प्रभावित करना, मार्गदर्शन करना) policy constructs (निर्माण करना) and thereon (on or upon the thing that has been mentioned), decisions, is non-contestable (निर्विवाद, गैर-संपर्क). The country takes periodic (regular, frequent, repeated, cyclical, sporadic, recurrent) stock of various parameters just to inform welfare (कल्याण, सामाजिक सुरक्षा) policies better. In context (प्रसंग, पृष्ठभूमि), the recent decision of the Union government to drop (abandon, cancel, give up, discontinue) the disability-specific (relating uniquely to a particular thing) question from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 (राष्ट्रीय परिवार स्वास्थ्य सर्वेक्षण) seems churlish (ill-mannered, discourteous, inconsiderate, ignorant) and sends out wrong signals. After years of campaigning (अभियान चलाना) for the same, activists (कार्यकर्ता) rejoiced (be happy, be pleased, be glad, be delighted) when the government added one question on disability in the NFHS-5, and were hopeful that this would be built upon in subsequent (consecutive, following, successive, ensuing) versions of the nation-wide survey. The deletion, and reluctance (अनिच्छा) to map (record in detail; trace out, survey) the minutiae (बारीकियाँ, विवरण) that will help understand their lives and needs better, leaves the question: is the government serious about its commitment to the disabled in the country, who number, as per the 2011 Census (जनगणना), about 2.68 crore? The Ministry of Health and Family responded that questions about disability were already asked as part of the Sample Registration Survey (SRS) (नमूना पंजीकरण सर्वेक्षण) 76th round, conducted between July and December 2018, and that any specific information can be tabulated (सारणीबद्ध करना) from the raw data, which is also available in the public domain. It has also gone on record stating that disability data will ‘not change fast’. That might be an erroneous (inaccurate, incorrect, imprecise, fallacious, wrong, defective) supposition (idea, belief, feeling, assumption).

While gross (कुल, संपूर्ण) data on disabilities will change marginally (but still be substantial (significant, sizeable, considerable, fairly large) given (considering, taking into account, bearing in mind) the numbers), the count of 6.1 lakh sample households (family, house) that the NFHS relies on will make the data set truly representative (prototypical, characteristic, illustrative, indicative). The elaborate (complicated, detailed, intricate, complex) questions asked by the NFHS will provide valuable specifics ((precise) details, niceties, subtleties, (finer) points, particulars) on the lives of the disabled; something on that scale hitherto (previously, earlier, so far/thus far, until now) conspicuous (clear, obvious, noticeable, observable, visible) by its absence. While the SRS does a good job with marking (indicate, signify, represent, denote) the prevalence (it refers to the number of cases of a disease that are present in a particular population at a given time) and incidence (it refers to the number of new cases that develop in a given period of time) of disability, education level, living arrangements, care-givers (nurse, attendant), certificate of disability, accessibility (availability, obtainability, convenience, ease of access (for people who have a disability)) and unemployment rate, among others, the NFHS asks more comprehensive (broad-based, widespread, wide-ranging) questions. It seeks answers on health and nutrition (the process in which necessary food is received/obtained by the living things to grow and be healthy) status, access to health schemes, insurance, sexual behaviour, availability of family planning, use of contraception (artificial methods which are used to prevent pregnancy; birth control), domestic violence, household amenities (facility, service, utility) and possessions (asset, property, belongings, things), lifestyle indicators, and access to drinking water and toilets. There is no doubt that the latter will yield (give, provide, produce generate, contribute, bring in produce or generate (a result/gain)) better, more robust, data on the disability sector. While Health Ministry officials claim that the sole (only) NFHS question on disability too resulted in under-reporting, that might actually be a function of training for field staff who ask the questions. The state must employ (use, utilize, make use of) these efforts — adding questions on disabilities, training field staff, because nothing really justifies (confirm, defend, uphold, validate, vindicate, warrant) any attempt to keep a significant section out of a massive scale count of the Indian population.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.National Family Health Survey (NFHS) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - राष्ट्रीय परिवार स्वास्थ्य सर्वेक्षण
English Meaning - a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. Three rounds of the survey have been conducted since the first survey in 1992-93. The survey provides state and national information for India on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning services.

2.robust (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मजबूत, शक्तिशाली
English Meaning - strong, powerful.

3.influence (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्रभावित करना, मार्गदर्शन करना
English Meaning - have an effect on, guide, regulate, determine.

4.construct (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निर्माण करना
English Meaning - idea or theory.

5.non-contestable (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - निर्विवाद, गैर-संपर्क
English Meaning - incontestable, indisputable, undeniable, unquestionable, undebatable.

6.welfare (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कल्याण, सामाजिक सुरक्षा
English Meaning - social security, government/state benefit, public assistance.

7.context (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रसंग, पृष्ठभूमि
English Meaning - background, backdrop, conditions, circumstances, situations.

8.campaign (verb)

Hindi Meaning - अभियान चलाना
English Meaning - make an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group; speak for, work, push, strive.

9.activist (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कार्यकर्ता
English Meaning - a person who supports a political change or cause; (or societal change/cause).

10.reluctance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनिच्छा
English Meaning - unwillingness, disinclination, hesitation.

11.minutiae (noun)

Hindi Meaning - बारीकियाँ, विवरण
English Meaning - details, niceties/finer points, particulars.

12.census (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जनगणना
English Meaning - an official survey, particularly of a population.

13.Sample Registration Survey (noun)

Hindi Meaning - नमूना पंजीकरण सर्वेक्षण
English Meaning - it is a large-scale demographic survey for providing reliable annual estimates of Infant mortality rate, birth rate, death rate and other fertility & mortality indicators at the national and sub-national levels.

14.tabulate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सारणीबद्ध करना
English Meaning - arrange, order, organize, classify.

15.gross (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - कुल, संपूर्ण
English Meaning - total, whole, complete.

16.make something count (phrase)

English Meaning - to make sure that something (e.g. an activity) has the most useful/successful outcome possible.

17.yield (verb)

English Meaning - give, provide, produce generate, contribute, bring in produce or generate (a result/gain).

18.National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) (noun)

English Meaning - The 2023-24 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), the sixth in the NFHS series, provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India and each state and union territory. Like NFHS-4, NFHS-5,NFHS-6 also provides district-level estimates for many important indicators. All five NFHS surveys have been conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India.

19.serve (well) (verb)

English Meaning - be useful or beneficial to.

20.thereon (adverb)

English Meaning - on or upon the thing that has been mentioned.

21.take stock of (phrase)

English Meaning - review, assess, evaluate.

22.periodic (adjective)

English Meaning - regular, frequent, repeated, cyclical, sporadic, recurrent.

23.drop (verb)

English Meaning - abandon, cancel, give up, discontinue.

24.-specific (suffix)

English Meaning - relating uniquely to a particular thing.

25.churlish (adjective)

English Meaning - ill-mannered, discourteous, inconsiderate, ignorant.

26.send out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - give out, produce something.

27.rejoice (verb)

English Meaning - be happy, be pleased, be glad, be delighted.

28.National Family Health Survey 2019-20 (NFHS-5) (noun)

English Meaning - the fifth in the NFHS series, NFHS-5 conducted in 2019-20, provides information on population, health, and nutrition for India and each state and union territory. All five NFHS surveys have been conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India.

29.build upon (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - develop, enhance, expand on.

30.subsequent (adjective)

English Meaning - consecutive, following, successive, ensuing.

31.map (verb)

English Meaning - record in detail; trace out, survey.

32.in the public domain/realm (phrase)

English Meaning - if something (e.g. information) is in the public domain, people generally know about it since it is no secret.

33.erroneous (adjective)

English Meaning - inaccurate, incorrect, imprecise, fallacious, wrong, defective.

34.supposition (noun)

English Meaning - idea, belief, feeling, assumption.

35.marginally (adverb)

English Meaning - slightly, somewhat, to some degree.

36.substantial (adjective)

English Meaning - significant, sizeable, considerable, fairly large.

37.given (preposition)

English Meaning - considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.

38.household (noun)

English Meaning - family, house.

39.rely on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - depend on; resort to, have recourse to.

40.representative (adjective)

English Meaning - prototypical, characteristic, illustrative, indicative.

41.elaborate (adjective)

English Meaning - complicated, detailed, intricate, complex.

42.specifics (noun)

English Meaning - (precise) details, niceties, subtleties, (finer) points, particulars.

43.hitherto (adverb)

English Meaning - previously, earlier, so far/thus far, until now.

44.conspicuous (adjective)

English Meaning - clear, obvious, noticeable, observable, visible.

45.mark (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, signify, represent, denote.

46.prevalence (noun)

English Meaning - it refers to the number of cases of a disease that are present in a particular population at a given time.

47.incidence (noun)

English Meaning - it refers to the number of new cases that develop in a given period of time.

48.caregiver (noun)

English Meaning - nurse, attendant.

49.accessibility (noun)

English Meaning - availability, obtainability, convenience, ease of access (for people who have a disability).

50.comprehensive (adjective)

English Meaning - broad-based, widespread, wide-ranging.

51.nutrition (noun)

English Meaning - the process in which necessary food is received/obtained by the living things to grow and be healthy.

52.contraception (noun)

English Meaning - artificial methods which are used to prevent pregnancy; birth control.

53.amenity (noun)

English Meaning - facility, service, utility.

54.possession (noun)

English Meaning - asset, property, belongings, things.

55.sole (adjective)

English Meaning - only.

56.result in (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - cause, lead to, bring on, bring about.

57.employ (verb)

English Meaning - use, utilize, make use of.

58.justify (verb)

English Meaning - confirm, defend, uphold, validate, vindicate, warrant.

59.keep out of (phrase)

English Meaning - to stop or prevent (something/someone) from (something else).