March 27, 2019
The general elections are less than a month away and there are
concerns that the promises made under the Accessible Election campaign by the
Election Commission of India may remain on paper. That’s the focus on Story
of the Week.
Will the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s stated
mission, ‘Leave No Voter Behind’ live up to its promise when it comes to
the country’s disabled voting population? With less than a month to go for
the national election, it looks like many of them will stay on paper unless
the ECI takes some decisive steps.
In a letter to the ECI, disability rights advocate Nipun
Malhotra has underlined some of the loopholes based on surveys and
reports from 22 states. They range from the lack of data on the number of
disabled voters to inaccessibility of polling booths and EC websites, to the
non-inclusion of disabled people in training programs.
The fact is that political parties do not take people with disabilities
seriously and the only way to change that is for the community to make its
presence felt by voting. I must say that the ECI has made commendable
efforts since 1998 when it has come to accessibility measures. Look at the
lovely ad campaign they have designed but when 50,000 polling booths are
not accessible as per the ECI’s own data, what’s the point? There has
to be some alternative like a vote from home option, anything that enables
people with disabilities to cast their votes. – Nipun Malhotra,
CEO, Nipman Foundation
Based on the ECI data, Chennai-based disability rights activist
Vaishnavi Jayakumar has put together the various problem
areas that persist. And this is an ongoing exercise.
Disability rights organizations in some states are also unhappy with the
apathy shown by ECI officials. Professor Raghu
Raman,Founder, 3 December Movement experienced this
first-hand at a training session in Chennai on 24 March.
“With the belief that there will be an attempt to involve visually impaired
people, I attended the election training held at Villivakkam. To my
disappointment I was neither able to meet the election officer in-charge nor
were the officials able to guide me”, says Professor Raman. “The idea is
to give people with disabilities an opportunity to serve as presiding
officers and contribute to the process but there was no one to guide me. Here
I am, a visually impaired man with a cane going around here and there to get
myself confirmed as a presiding officer. You cannot insult people with
disabilities like this and then claim that you are including us”.
Sentiments echoed by Rajiv Rajan of the EKTA
Foundation in Chennai, who talks about the reluctance shown towards
enrolling people with psychosocial disabilities, something Malhotra has
raised in the letter to the ECI as well. Much of the accessible election
focus has been limited to people with physical and sensory disabilities, with
little attention given to the voting rights of people with psychosocial and
intellectual disabilities.
“Persons with intellectual and/or psycho social disabilities are not being
registered”, says Rajan. “Many voters have been returned by the
officials. The other problem is that call lines are not answered most of the
time”.
With less than a month, the hurdles may seem insurmountable but Malhotra says
lots can be done if the ECI were to adopt a decentralized approach.
“Building a ramp can’t take time, all the ECI needs to do is tie up with
local NGOs. Ditto with wheelchairs, companies like ALIMCO can provide them
until the voting exercise is over”, points out Malhotra. “As far as deaf
voters are concerned, if there are no interpreters available at every booth,
maybe one can be made available on a WhatsApp call. One can look at creative
approaches and lots can be done if the ECI were to decentralize. to
organizations and officials at the district level”.
Clearly India’s disabled population is determined to make itself heard in
the political space in different ways. Take the outrage over the insensitive
comments made by the politicians or the growing number of people with
disabilities contesting elections. The recent entry of Paralympian
Deepa Malik into the BJP is also a significant development.
High time these voices were heard seriously.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/21789
