Specially-abled queue up to vote at disabled-friendly polling booths in city

“We don’t have wheelchairs in the polling station as this is a school. So we tied two bamboo sticks to a plastic chair and carried him in it. This will be helpful for any other handicap person who comes to vote,” a duty officer said.

By 12.30 pm Ansari was able to finally cast his vote. His nephew Mohammad Sameer said, “Since he could not sign on his own, we used his thumb on the form. I went to the polling booth with him and helped him press the button.” Ansari’s wife Saeeda Ansari said, “He forces us and all our neighbours to get out of the house and vote. He is always excited about elections.” According to Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of 184 Byculla assembly constituency, with a higher percentage of senior citizens in the pocket, polling officers have been trained to assist them during the polling day. “We have made the provision for such chairs in 17 locations in Byculla,” Suryavanshi said.

Rajkumar Sharma, who works with Agni NGO, said, “Handicapped and old people do have problem in going to the polling station alone. Even NGO volunteers are not allowed to go inside with them.” He added that several polling stations have infrastructural problems with no ramp for handicap people.
tabassum.barnagarwala@expressindia.com