May 28, 2019
Accessibility was under the spotlight like never before in the
recently held general elections in India. For the first time ever, an audit
was conducted by members of the disability sector on the areas of concern and
what should be looked at closely going ahead.
Accessible Elections was the much talked about buzzword in this general
election and for the first time in India’s history, the disability sector
held a nationwide audit on how the accessible features actually panned out on
the ground.
The campaign for accessible elections is not new. The National Centre
for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) started the
movement as far back as the nineties. In 1995, persons with disabilities were
guaranteed equal opportunities with the passing of The Disability
Act.
However, up until the general elections of 2004, all of this was on paper and
millions of voters with disabilities struggled to exercise their right to
vote on voting day. This time an audit was called for by Arman
Ali, Executive Director, NCPEDP to look into the
shortcomings that emerged on the accessibility aspect at polling booths
across India.
What has emerged are issues on several fronts. One glaring problem, reported
across the country, was the location of polling booths on higher
floors. In Maharashtra, to name just one, there were 3,000 plus polling
booths located on upper floors, with no provision for ramps made. Social
media was flooded with images and videos of disabled voters being physically
carried up the stairs. This included Arman Ali, who had to wait at the voting
premises in Guwahati for two hours for polling officials to haul him upstairs
to vote.
The audit specifies the following missing features in
Lok Sabha Elections 2019:
This was a concern raised by disability rights groups in Goa as well
following which the Chief Electoral Officer has started sensitisation and
awareness trainings for poll officials in partnership with local NGOs.
“there was no sensitivity or awareness among the booth level officers
(BLOs) as well as police manning the voting booths”, said Sandhya
Khalokhe , Goa Special Schools Association. Sandhya
was not allowed to take her vehicle close to the booth even after she
explained that her son, who is eligible to vote, has difficulty walking.
“There was no wheelchair available outside either. It was inside the booth
and there was no volunteer or official to tell us where the wheelchair was
kept. Arrangements were made but there was no sensitisation”.
The audit also highlights states where arrangements for disabled voters
showed a major improvement. Among them were Goa and
Sabarkantha, Gujarat. Here, arrangements were made for
wheelchair-friendly vehicles to transport persons with disabilities to
polling booths. Most booths in Gujarat were also equipped with Braille. This
is a step forward, given that persons with disabilities featured on the
Census only in 2001, five decades after independence.
Calling the audit an “honest attempt” by the Election Commission of
India, Ali underlined the need to look at disability in a holistic
manner.
This audit is just a beginning and it only shows us accessibility is not
about ramps and wheelchairs. It is much more and the entire ecosystem needs
to be involved. There was an honest attempt made by the Election Commission
of India. They also hired a person with disability as consultant and
engaged NGOs to make an impact. However, change will happen, only when
disability is not looked at in isolation and is synergised as part of
everything that involves the masses. – Arman Ali, Executive
Director, NCPEDP
A positive side note is the move to hold such audits at state levels such as
the one held recently in Goa where the Chief Electoral Officer responded to
concerns raised by disability rights group iDare (initiative for
Disability awareness rights and empowerment) and came together with
a few NGOs to look into the issues that emerged in the recent elections. More
such state-level initiatives will help cement the accessible election
exercise.
ALSO READ:Accessible Elections in India & lessons for the
future
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22363
