Every citizen of the country, including one with special needs, has the right to cast votes. Now even the blind would cast votes in the forthcoming Assembly elections. And this is thanks to the Braille enabled EVMs that has been introduced in accordance with the order of the Election Commission. The district administration has geared up to streamline the assured facilities for the disabled.
The blind would no longer need any body’s assistance to cast vote thanks to the Braille enabled electronic voting machines (EVMs) being made available for them. For the first time in the forthcoming Assembly elections, the blind will cast votes sans any outside assistance and the vote thy cast would remain a secret as it happens with others.
Acting on the directives of the Election Commission, the district administration has given instructions to the voting centres to provide the basic minimum facilities for the blind. Under the assured minimum facility norms laid down by the Centre for the Divyangs (people with special needs), ramp, wheelchair and walking stick must be provided to the disabled. The district magistrate who is also election officer told The Pioneer that EVM would have strip of paper encoding the options in Braille.
Speaking to The Pioneer, DM Haridwar Harbans Singh Chugh said, “For the forthcoming Assembly elections, the facility of Braille enabled EVMs would be provided for the blind people in the district. Also we have started the process of identification of the disabled people in the district so that the voting booths linked to them can be facilitated with the bare minimum necessities. We have asked the Samaj Kalyan Vibhag to provide us the list of the Divyangs.”
The people with special needs are happy with the district administration taking special initiatives for them. Raj Arora of Jwalapur who is deaf and dumb shares his happiness through his wife, “This is really a good initiative undertaken by the government to help the people with impaired vision to vote,” he said. However, he said at the same time that the facility can be availed only by those who are well versed in Braille. “Others will have to take assistance from others. It is high time that the blind start learning the Braille script,” he added.
Notably, there are 1280414 voters in the district. As per the pensioners’ list of the Samaj Kalyan Vibhag, there are 9408 Divyangs in the district. The district administration is conducting a survey if all these 9408 are voters or not. A separate list of the blind is also being made.
There is need to spread the awareness amongst the blind of the district about this Braille enabled EVMs, stressed Kamla Joshi of Bal Kalyan Samiti.
Speaking to The Pioneer, ADM finance and revenue Abhishek Tripathi said, “In a democratic system, every citizen has the right to cast vote. In accordance with the order of the Election Commission, the process of enlisting the people with special needs has been initiated. The assured minimum facilities would be made available at all the polling booths across the district.”
Facebook comments