April 26, 2019
On 29 April Saniya Shaikh, a resident of Vikhroli in
suburban Mumbai, is looking forward to casting her vote in the fourth phase
of the Lok Sabha elections. Her voting polling booth, however, is on the
first floor of a municipal school building and she is worried about how she
will get to the booth.
“I went and checked out my polling booth and found it is located on the
first floor”, said Shaikh. “There are no ramps given and nor is there a
lift, so I am a little worried about how I am going to get to the polling
booth. Will there be people to carry wheelchair users like me to the top
floor?”
It’s a question that’s uppermost on the minds of many voters across
Maharashtra since disability rights groups have confirmed that over 3,000
polling booths are located either on the first or second floors of buildings,
many of them with no lifts or ramps. This has become a worry especially after
images on social media showed voters in other parts of the country stranded
on the ground floor for hours as there were no arrangements made for them to
be taken to their voting booths on upper floors.
Among those concerned is Dr Ketna Mehta, co-founder of the
NGO Nina Foundation and a disability rights activist.
Is there a provision either to allow people on wheelchairs to cast their
votes on the ground floor? Will this entail a lot of communication,
struggle or will it be dignified with an understanding that we cannot be
carried up? Is there a standard operating procedure communicated to each of
these polling booths that citizens on wheelchairs have as much right and
because they are unable to climb, they should be allowed to vote on the
ground floor? Are they empowered enough, informed about it, we would like
to know this because we are taking a great deal of effort to come to the
polling booths and I do hope there is a game plan. – Dr Ketna
Mehta, Co-founder, Nina Foundation
Speaking to NewzHook, Farogh Mukadan,
Deputy Collector, Election, Mumbai
Collectorate, has confirmed that there is a game plan and that
arrangements have been made to ensure that people with disabilities are able
to cast their votes in a hassle free manner. This includes wheelchair
accessible taxis and buses for people with disabilities.
“We would like to appeal to people with disabilities that for those who
have requested for transfer from home to polling booths and back, special
arrangements of PwD friendly taxis and buses are per assembly constituency
have been made”, said Mukadan. “Nodal officers of each assembly
constituencies are in touch with our PwD voters and a detailed route plan has
been chalked out”.
Those voters who are looking to place requests can call the Control
Room Number 20820945 to place requests.
Regarding specific arrangements at the polling booths, Mukadan said
wheelchairs would be arranged for along with ramps at the polling location
buildings.
“There will be volunteers to carry people with disabilities to the booths.
In Mumbai district, we have 634 polling stations on the first floor and about
51 on the second floor. We will ensure that where lifts are available, they
are in working condition. Where there are no lifts, we have arranged for
dolis (chairs) along with labourers who will help them carry to the upper
floors. In this way we are trying to make these elections accessible for
disabled voters”, adds Mukadan.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22080
