March 26, 2019
Lok Sabha Elections are round the corner. The Election Commission of India
(ECI) has instructed state governments to provide all facilities to people so
that there is full participation for upcoming elections. Disabled and elderly
people can now go to polling booths and cast their votes without too many
hassles. Under the instruction of the ECI, government of Kerala is all set to
introduce volunteers from National Service Scheme (NSS) and National
Cadet Corps (NCC) to help disabled people at polling booths.
All the volunteers who will be below 18 years of age will ensure
that people with disabilities can cast their votes at polling booths.
Disabled people will be guided to booths by the volunteers who will also
ensure that the queues are managed well. Disabled and elderly people will be
given priority in these queues and separate queues will be
provided for male and female voters. This is indeed a great move by
the ECI and state government. But disability rights groups are sceptical
about how well this is going to be implemented in polling booths across
Kerala.
Rajeev Palluruthy, Secretary of All Kerala Wheelchair Rights
Federation(AKWRF) says that he is hopeful of disabled friendly
elections this year.
I believe accessibility features are going to be better this year. There
were many new features that were introduced last year which was a huge
success. This year, things are going to be done on a bigger scale. Since
the RPWD Act, 2016 is strengthened, it is going to help disabled voters
cast their votes without further trouble. For instance, the Ernakulam
Collectorate now has an exclusive cell for reaching out to disabled voters.
This is a great initiative-Rajeev Palluruthy, Secretary,
AKWRF
As per the instructions of the ECI, disabled people must be provided with
transport facilities to booths. In case public transport
facilities are not available, private vehicles must be hired or the purpose.
Recently, ECI also introduced a mobile application through which
wheelchair users can request for wheelchairs to cast their votes at polling
booths. In order to beat the extreme heat, tents will be
provided so that disabled and elderly people can take rest inside
these tents. Separate accessible toilets or men and women will
also be provided.
Preetha Thonnakkal, a wheelchair user from
Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital, is not very hopeful of the
accessibility features that the government has promised to introduce.
“I have hardly gone to vote mainly due to lack of accessibility features at
booths. Every time there is an election, authorities come up with false
promises. We believe them and go to polling booths to find out that nothing
is there. There is no one to help you and you have to figure out things on
your own. I feel this year is going to be the same. Officials are insensitive
towards needs of disabled people. They think that we can manage on our own.
Their attitude’s reflects in how disabled friendly our elections are. We are
also a part of the society and have equal rights to vote. We pay tax just
like every other person without a disability”, says Preetha Thonnakkal.
ALSO READ: Karnataka govt introduces accessibility features for elections,
disability groups raise questions
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/21783
