September 24, 2019
On 21 October the Election Commission of India will hold elections in
the two legislative assemblies of Maharashtra. In keeping with the mission of
making them free, fair and accessible, election officials in Mumbai have
announced a series of steps.
On 21 October, voters across Maharashtra will get a chance to have their say
in who will govern the state for the next term. To make sure that ‘no voter
is left behind’, the Election Commission is going the extra
mile to include every eligible voter in Mumbai, including voters with
disabilities.
Like in the Lok Sabha elections, disabled voters have been asked to register
on the PwD App started specifically for voters with disabilities
to register their name as well as details like nature of disability and
requirement of transport and wheelchairs at the polling station. Officials
are also visiting voters with disabilities at their homes to ask for details.
Filmmaker Rustom Irani, who uses a wheelchair, was visited
by a local polling official. “For the first time, I had someone visit my home
to ask about my disability details etc. so they can offer an accessible
booth. It’s great to see that they are going through the list of registered
voters with disabilities. This is a first and quite amazing actually. So far,
all my voting experiences have been quite horrendous and I hope this is the
start of a change for the better”.
Farogh Mukadam, an Election Officer based
in Mumbai, said all efforts are on to ensure that every eligible voter with
disability gets to the polling station easily. About 3,000 disabled voters
registered on the app for the Lok Sabha elections, way lower than the Census
figure of about 60,000 disabled voters and efforts are being made to ensure
no one is left out.
There are some changes in this election exercise. The EC insisted that all
polling stations be placed on the ground floor in buildings where there are
no lifts and we have done that in Mumbai and Thane. In Mumbai, there are
600 polling stations on the ground floor and in the suburbs its over 1,900.
The same exercise has been carried out in Thane. There will also be
dolis at every polling stations to carry people with locomotor
disabilities. – Farogh Mukadam, Election Officer, Mumbai
The Social Welfare Department, Maharashtra government has
identified about 975 voters with locomotor disabilities who are eligible to
vote in Mumbai and care will be taken that they can come to the polling
station and go back to their homes comfortably. Wheelchair-accessible taxis
by Ezy Mov will be deployed and the Spastics Society
of India is providing mini-buses that are easy to board.
“We have currently assured 14 cars for the entire day and we are awaiting
instructions from the EC regarding the locations”, said Benet
D’cunha, Co-founder, Ey Mov. “There have been lot
of learnings from the Lok Sabha elections and this time we will have trial
dry runs and connects with voters with disabilities much before the day of
voting”. He promises a more seamless version this time. “Last elections we
ferried 454 voters with disabilities. This year we are planning to cross the
figure of 800 disabled voters with better coordination and full optimisation
of the vehicle.”
This time, every polling station will have a team of volunteers to assist
voters with disabilities with all the help they need. One concern as of now
is the low registration. “So far 3,000 voters with disabilities have
registered”, said Mukadam, “when the Census figures are much higher. People
are also reluctant to mark themselves as disabled. The good news is there are
a higher number of disabled women voters this time round”.
Apart from the PwD App, the EC will be announcing additional helpline numbers
in a few days to assist more voters with disabilities.
