As elections near, the disabled want better arrangements | EPS By Meera Bhardwaj New Indian Express: 02nd April 2013 http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/article1526143.ece Seven per cent of the population is physically challenged and out of this, nearly 3.5-4 per cent, who are eligible, want to participate in the forthcoming election process. However, there is a big question mark as far as their voting participation is concerned due to unfriendly policies and inaccessible polling booths in many parts of the city and state. If you have ever visited a voting booth anytime, you can see that there is either no place to sit or even stand and for the disabled, entering these places itself is a Herculean task and casting their votes without assistance is another difficult task.
Elections are around the corner and poll fever has already caught up with aspirants and other sections of the people what with political parties burning the midnight oil to finalise their list of candidates. With Bangalore and rest of Karnataka witnessing a single day’s poll on the 5th of May, hectic days are on the anvil with many citizens running from pillar to post to get their voter ID card so as to exercise their franchise. But what about the disabled? Abhishek, who turned 18 this year, is frantically trying to get a voter ID card but it is a big task for him as he needs help to visit these centres. “With great difficulty and aided by my friends, I visited the centre, but could not get my card because of improper documentation. The centre had no ramp and I had to stand in the hot sun, which for me was a tough proposition. As it is, the authorities are least bothered about the rights of the disabled,” he said. Krishnamurthy, a bank employee rues the advent of the polling day as it is a nightmare standing and waiting with no place to sit or assistance to cast their votes. “It is a pain to even enter the booths as there are are no ramps and for me, to climb the big steps is pretty difficult. Some booths are located in hilly areas, some down in the dump and some with no pathways and for the disabled, it is impossible to cast their votes. There seems to be no concern or even data available with the election authorities regarding the number of disabled voters in a particular constituency.” Sunil Jain cast his vote in the 2008 elections successfully but only because he had assistance and somebody who could lift his wheelchair and help him to enter the polling booth. But the moot question here is : how many people can afford assistance on their own? Keeping in view, the problems faced by people with disabilities, Sunil and his Astha Foundation is hoping to bring awareness and launch a campaign for the rights of the disabled so that they can take part in the election process. “It is important that this section of the population gets all the support, logistical and otherwise, so that they exercise their voting rights. Through our campaign, we are also hoping to raise awareness levels in all the eligible voters for casting their valuable votes and also provide any kind of assistance they need,” he added. While people with disabilities too have the right to cast their votes, nobody knows how much action has been taken to empower them to exercise their choice. The prevailing scenario in our country today is: These people want to vote but they are not enrolled in any electoral rolls; they are in the electoral list, but neither find any support nor encouragement (infrastructure or otherwise) to participate in the democratic process; they can go and vote, but they may think that it’s not important; and further, some people do vote irrespective of facilities or not .... they somehow find a way to take part in the exercise. “Astha’s aim is to make sure that the disabled community too votes. After all, even their vote counts and the state and central governments should make efforts to make the voting process, whether Parliamentary or assembly, disabled friendly,” said Sunil. He further added adds that they are planning to meet the chief electoral officer of Karnataka and the disability commissioner on the 10th of this month to seek their involvement and support so as to empower maximum number of people with disability and ultimately having the freedom to choose and exercise their right to vote. -- Avinash Shahi MPhil Research Scholar Centre for the Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ 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
