Don't trust the scribe too much. For all you know, she may have been misquoted.
Subramani -----Original Message----- From: accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in [mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On Behalf Of Geetha Shamanna Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 6:48 PM To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in Subject: Re: [AI] Braille EVMs for visually challenged My world is certainly not "just black", as Ms. Mohit describes it in this article. As a blind person herself, she should refrain from making such depressing comments. As for the braille electronic voting machines themselves, how will the polling officials determine where they should be installed? Do they have a mechanism for identifying blind voters in a specific area? Geetha ----- Original Message ----- From: "Renuka Warrier" <eren...@gmail.com> To: <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 4:47 PM Subject: [AI] Braille EVMs for visually challenged > The Hindu News Update Service > > News Update Service > Saturday, March 14, 2009 : 1105 Hrs > Quest > > National > Braille EVMs for visually challenged > > Dehra Dun (PTI): Visually challenged voters can hope to exercise their > franchise in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls if the Election Commission > goes ahead > with its plan to use Braille EVMs at some polling booths across the > country. > > Designed by the National Institute for Visually Handicapped (NIVH) here, > the Braille EVMs were used by 150 visually handicapped people in the 2007 > assembly > polls in Uttarakhand. > > Chief Election Commissioner-designate Naveen Chawla, who recently visited > the NIVH campus here, had assured institute director Anuradha Mohit that > the machines > will be used at some polling booths in the country. > > "We want that the machines are used in all the places where the blinds are > in large numbers.It will be a great gift to the people for whom the world > is > just black," says Mohit, who herself is blind. > > The hallmark of the Braille-EVMs is that blind persons can cast their > votes secretly without any difficulty. The names of the candidates along > with their > symbols are written in Braille on these EVMs. > > "Earlier there was no secrecy. Now they can cast their votes > independently," says Mohit. > > Experts said there is still scope for further improvement in the > Braille-EVMs. > > "If we install Voice Operated System (VOS) on these EVMs, then illiterate > blind persons can also vote," she said. > > Quoting a report by National Sample Survey, she said Braille literacy > among the blinds is only 22 to 25 percent, and hence there was an urgent > need for > VOS-EVMs. > > > > To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.i n To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.i n Email secured by TPML Raksha Checkpoint To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in