With an aim to encourage persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the electoral process, an Accessible Elections Workshop was held in Jaipur on 16th April. It was inaugurated by Election Commissioner Shri Sunil Arora after which Shri Ashwini Bhagwat delivered a welcome speech followed by three keynote addresses by Shri Bhushan Punani, Ms. Poonam Natrajan, and Ms. Uma Tuli.
The Election Commissioner Mr. Arora said that the participation of persons with disabilities is really low in the election procedure. In the wake of encouraging their involvement and to provide all essential facilities at polling stations, the Election Commission will make all possible efforts.
He also said that some NGOs are doing exemplary work for the betterment of PWDs which is gradually changing the picture of the entire nation. He talked about providing transport facilities to the Divyangs in upcoming elections and also welcomed suggestions from people attending the workshop.
Image Courtesy: Khaskhabar
At the occasion, Deputy Election Commissioner also spoke at length about giving differently-abled people their voting rights. He said that these people are VIP voters and the Commission will make efforts to provide all possible facilities to them so that more and more of these people reach the polling station and exercise their right to vote.
Further, he revealed that every year, the Election Commission works upon themes like ‘No voter to be left behind’ and ‘Every Vote Counts’. However, for the year 2018, the theme is ‘Accessible Elections’.
Reportedly, Rajasthan is the only state in India to have done unprecedented work of connecting more than 2.5 lakhs differently-abled people to the voters’ list. The commission is continually working to ensure that each and every individual is registered as a voter and he/she exercises the right to vote.
The Social Justice Department of the state government is likely to collaborate with the Election Department to carry out sensitization programs with respect to the electoral participation of PWDs. An awareness campaign will also be carried out in September 2018 regarding the polling process.
After the keynote addresses by several dignitaries, the workshop was split into 5 working groups namely- Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, Orthopedically Impaired, Intellectual Impaired, and Multi-sensory Impaired. These groups carried out deliberations and gave presentations. The suggestions provided by these groups will be compiled in a report and will be sent to the ECI, New Delhi. After that, these will be converted into guidelines.
