Poll officials to help disabled

MUMBAI: The city’s voting infrastructure is ill-equipped to cater to differently-abled persons in Thursday’s civic elections.

Election officials admitted that 28 of the 8,378 voting booths are on the first floor and are inaccessible by lift or ramps. While electronic voting machines have been made Braille-friendly , visually-impaired persons will still need assistance in matching candidate symbols and numbers before casting their votes.

“It is unfortunate that the lists of candidates will not be in Braille. It doesn’t speak highly of our democracy that visually-impaired persons will need assistance to vote,” said Raman Shankar who heads the National Association for the Blind (NAB), pointing out that such assistance was open to manipulation. Estimating that there are 4,000 visually-impaired voters in the city, he said NAB had been approached during the parliamentary and state assembly elections as well as the Alibaug and Pen polls to supply Braille stickers and candidate lists.

Physically disabled voters and incapacitated senior citizens will be inconvenienced in areas like Marine Lines, Mohammed Ali Road, parts of Chembur, Mankhurd and Govandi , where booths do not have disabled-friendly access.

“The approach to disabled persons as an electorate is apathetic . The issues never make it to political manifestos and voting infrastructure reflects this apathy,” said disabled rights activist Nilesh Singit, who had championed for his booth in Matunga to be on the ground floor during the last state elections.

Disabled persons point out that governance machinery remains apathetic despite judicial orders demanding inclusive facilities. The Supreme Court had directed states to ensure ramps at booths and Disability Rights Group had filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court for implementation of the provisions.

The authorities insisted there were constraints to making areas disabled-friendly in highly-congested areas. “Most booths have access. There will be assistants at the 28 booths that are on the first floor without lifts,” said S S Shinde, joint municipal commissioner in-charge of elections . He said officials will assist visually-impaired persons with lists in booths too.

Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, Times of India, Bombay

Polling booths to be disabled-, pregnant-friendly

 Priyanka Sharma

Don’t fret over how your physically-challenged or pregnant relative will be able to cast his/her ballot in the upcoming civic polls. The state election commission has issued a set of facilities to be made available at polling booths to ensure that the pregnant, the physically-challenged and senior citizens will not have to queue up for long. Women with a child, besides those pregnant, will be given preference over others at the booth.

“There have been instances when the pregnant, the physically-challenged and senior citizens were put off by the idea of incessantly waiting in line. This time, we are paying attention to every minute detail,” said Chand Goyal, additional chief secretary of the election commission.

No polling booth will be allowed to be set up above the ground floor in a building with no lift. An elevated ramp for the physically-challenged is also mandatory. “Also, for the first time, we have electronic voting machines with Braille script on the ballot unit with which the visually-challenged can decipher the candidates’ name,” added Goyal. Every polling booth will also sport a shed, facilities for drinking water and a washroom.

DNA Published Date: Dec 13, 2011

Manmohan promises disabled-friendly laws

FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS: Physically challenged persons, under the banner of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled and led by CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, march on Parliament Street in New Delhi on Tuesday to press their demands. Photo: V. Sudhersan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the government was in favour of amending the laws, if need be, to make them more disabled-friendly. He gave this assurance to a delegation of the differently-abled persons who met him in Parliament. The delegation was led by CPI (M) MP Brinda Karat.  “The Prime Minister was extremely sympathetic towards the demands of the disabled persons and said their demands were genuine,” Ms. Karat said. Dr. Singh assured the delegation of changing the laws to make them disabled-friendly, if necessary. The Prime Minister interacted with the members of the delegations and enquired about their problems. Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Karat said this was the first time that a delegation of differently-abled persons had visited Parliament House. “It was pointed out to the Parliament staff that there was only one gate (Gate no 9) in Parliament House for the physically disabled people and this was far away from the main entrance,” Ms. Karat said. The delegation also met the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Mukul Wasnik who told them that the government was finalising a new law for the disabled that would replace the existing law.

Earlier, a large number of people with different forms of disabilities marched to Parliament House to demand a better deal. Marching under the banner, ‘National Platform for the Rights of Disabled Persons,’ the people highlighted the plight of the economically and socially disadvantaged among the disabled, the poor, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. “The basic issue is that of the approach of the government and we must request you to consider our demands not as an act of charity but as fulfilment of entitlements and rights as equal citizens of India. India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the persons with Disabilities which enjoins the government to ensure minimum rights and livelihood to disabled citizens,” the marchers said in a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister. The demands include a comprehensive social security system for all persons with disabilities and their families including the Antyodaya cards, free health care for disabled persons, amendments to the Right to Education Act to make provision for disabled teachers and professional and identification of jobs for the disabled immediately with annual special recruitment drives each year.

Besides setting up a separate Ministry for disability affairs, the memorandum also sought issuance of a universally valid identity card and replacing the current Persons with Disabilities Act (1995) in consonance with the provisions of the U.N. Convention and harmonising other laws, the disabled persons also wanted proper enumeration of the persons with disabilities. The organisations that participated in the march included the Paschimbanga Rajya Pratibandhi Samaiilani, the Differently Abled Persons Welfare Federation of Thiruvananthapuram, the Karnataka Rajya Angavikalara Mattu Palakara Okkota, the Jharkhand Vikalanga Morcha, the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of all types of Disabled and Caregivers and the Vibhinna Prathiba Vanthula Jakkula Vedika of Andhra Pradesh.

The Hindu

UK Campaigns for More Accessible Elections!

Written by Katrina Ward

19 March 2010

There are campaigns in the United Kingdom to make elections more accessible for people with disabilities. One problem is that information about politics is too difficult to understand.  The campaigns  want to convince politicians and authorities to make elections easier. People with disabilities should have the same right to vote as any other citizen, however, many people with disabilities are not given the opportunity to use their vote and to take part equally in the democratic life of their country. In the last few years, the UK has been campaigning hard to make elections more accessible for people with disabilities. Three major campaigns have recently been launched to push for more accessible elections for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Research by United Response, an organisation which supports people with learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical disabilities to live in the community in the UK, has shown that while 80% of people with disabilities are registered to vote, only 16% of them voted in the last UK General election and 20% in their last local elections. The research highlighted a number of barriers to accessibility, including a lack of easy to understand information about political parties and policies. In light of this, United Response launched the ‘Every Vote Counts’ campaign in 2007. This three-year project, funded by the Electoral Commission, aimed to raise awareness and promote the participation of people with intellectual disabilities in campaigns and in every aspect of the democratic process. Meanwhile, in 2009, Mencap, Inclusion Europe’s UK member organisation, launched the campaign ‘Get My Vote’, which aims to ensure that more people with intellectual disabilities participate in the next general election. This campaign pushes for more accessible information about the voting and from political parties. They have produced an easy-to-read guide on how to vote for people with intellectual disabilities in the UK, which you can find here: http://www.mencap.org.uk/document.asp?id=12634 In addition to this, Scope, a UK organisation for disabled people, also launched its ‘Polls Apart’ campaign. In the last general election, Scope surveyed over 2000 polling stations and found that 68% were inaccessible for people with disabilities. On the basis of this research, Scope raised awareness at government and local level about the importance of making their polling stations accessible. On the Polls Apart website, people can find out how accessible their local polling station is in the UK. These campaigns are very promising for people with intellectual disabilities in the UK. At European level, Inclusion Europe recently started a project which aims to improve the accessibility of elections for people with intellectual disabilities across Europe. For the project, Inclusion Europe, together with its project partners Nous Aussi (France), Enable (Scotland) and Inclusion Czech Republic, are working together to analyse the current accessibility of elections in all countries of the European Union, whilst collecting best practices and lobbying for more accessible elections both at national and European level. For more information, please visit the website at: www.voting-for-all.eu If you know about any best practices in your own country which you would like to share, please contact the project coordinator, Katrina Ward at: k.ward(at)inclusion-europe.org (please replace (at) with @. For more information about the ‘Every Vote Counts’ campaign, go to: www.everyvotecounts.org.uk For more information about the ‘Polls Apart’ campaign, go to: www.pollsapart.org.uk

Call to encourage voters with learning difficulties

People with some learning difficulties are being encouraged to vote

A campaign is being launched to help people with  learning disabilities to vote in the next General Election.

It is estimated that 500,000 people in England with learning difficulties could vote but do not. It is also estimated only about 16% of people with learning difficulties voted at the last election. The United Response charity wants to raise that figure and has sent out what it calls a “toolkit” to all MPs, urging them use to jargon-free language. The toolkit includes a CD explaining its message, which  includes a request for MPs to use visual material where possible. The charity is calling on all the major parties to produce manifestos in a form that is easy to understand for people with learning disabilities.

United Response chief executive Sue Sayer said its campaign had been running for the past three  years. “The campaign is really important because what people told us it that they find political  information – I’m talking about manifestos and policy documents – really difficult to understand. “And of course it’s vital that they can understand what’s being proposed because so many political decisions have a real impact on their lives. “In a General Election things like health and social care, benefits, direct payments, they’re all very important. And in a local election things like public transport come up time and time again.”

MP interest

Ms Sayer said the response from MPs to the charity’s approach had been “fantastic”. She added: “They’ve been so enthusiastic, I’ve had hand-written letters from so many MPs saying how great it is to have this toolkit.” The report makes a series of recommendations, including calling for an increase in the number of people with learning disabilities voting in 2010, to at least 40%. It also wants all main political parties to make the information about their policies and their candidates as accessible as possible ahead of the election, with easy read manifestos as a minimum. The law says that anyone with a broad understanding of what voting is about, and the ability to choose between candidates is eligible to vote. The voting figures for the general population for the last election was 61%.

BBC NEWS

A brave story of an old voter

Aau Pednekar, an 83-year-old resident of Shivaji Park, cannot walk without support. She also has poor vision and needs an escort to guide her.  But she insisted on voting in the Assembly elections on Tuesday.  She trudged to her polling booth at Dadar’s Balmohan Vidyamandir, but had to scale nine tall steps before she could get to the voting hall. The booth did not have ramps or helpers. “I managed to get here, but it was painful.  I had to take breaks and sit before I could vote,” she rued.

Similar stories were shared by other physically challenged persons and senior citizens across Mumbai. “Voting would have been a better experience if there were ramps for us,” said Versova’s Jasmeer Khanna (38), a cerebral palsy patient. Khanna managed to vote only after her father and helper lifted her wheelchair up a steep staircase leading to the polling booth on the first floor of a civic school.  The Supreme Court, in an order passed two months before the April Lok Sabha elections, had directed the Election Commission (EC) to provide ramps, staircase banisters and Braille markings on voting machines. A random check of poll booths revealed that while Braille sheets were attached to most voting machines, ramps and banisters were hard to find.  “During the Lok Sabha polls, the EC said it had no time to implement the order. What is the excuse now?” asked Sriram Patnakar, founder-director of the BrihanMaharashtra Apang Vikas Sangathana, which rallied for universally accessible polling booths.

In Matunga, however, disabled rights activist Nilesh Singit was pleasantly surprised to find that the polling booth at Amulik Amichand School had been shifted to the ground floor. During earlier elections, Singit, who uses crutches, had to be carried to the first-floor polling booth. “At least some sensitivity has seeped in,” he said.

Hindustan Times, 14th October 2009
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