LS polls will be disabled-friendly

When Suhas Karnik, the visually-challenged secretary of the National Association of the Blind (NAB), casts his vote in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, he will be not have to depend on anyone.

In January this year, in accordance with a supreme court order, the Election Commission of India issued instructions to election officers of all states to make the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll disabled-friendly. As per the new guidelines, all urban and semi-urban polling booths will now have wooden ramps for the physically challenged voters. There will also be a separate queue for them. And most importantly, Braille numbers will be affixed next to the ballot button on all electronic voting machines (EVMs). A list of candidates in Braille will also be made available in the exact same sequence of the EVMs at the booths.

“The Braille stickers will be printed at NAB’s Braille press in Worli,” said Raman Shankar, who is in-charge of the press.

“These stickers will be affixed on all the EVMs in 85,000-odd polling booths, and on the dummy list of candidates for the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra,” said Shankar.

“This will be a first in the history of democratic India,” said Karnik, adding that the move will be beneficial only if the government trains the staff at the polling booths about the new system. “As per the ninth Five Year Plan, about 5-6% of India population is disabled. This is a huge vote bank, and all the more reason for the politicians and the government to address our needs,” Karnik said.