Plan to appoint volunteers to help persons with disability at polling booths

In a move to help persons with disability (PWD) to exercise their franchise in the elections, the Tiruchi district administration has decided to appoint volunteers at all polling stations in the district.

According to an estimate, about 9,000 voters are marked as persons with disabilities in nine constituencies of the district. The Election Commission has made a provision for them to vote from their houses. However, the EC has made it clear that it is only optional and they can visit their respective booths to exercise their franchise as usual. To facilitate their easy movement, all the 2,785 polling booths have been provided with ramps. Sixty-seven of them were established recently. To make the mobility easier for them, the district administration has made arrangements to provide wheelchairs at the polling booths along with exclusive volunteers.

V. Saravanan, Collector-cum-District Election Officer, told The Hindu that it had been decided to post at least one volunteer for each polling booth to help the persons with disabilities to cast their votes. Upon arrival, the volunteer would offer a wheelchair to them and enable them to reach the polling arena. A total of 2,785 volunteers would be identified shortly for the task. They would soon be provided a training session with their respective returning officers.

Similarly, Mr. Saravanan said the voters with locomotor disability who were willing to come for voting, wheelchairs assessment had been completed and new 120 wheelchairs would be mobilised from hospitals in addition to the previously bought wheelchairs. The process of distributing Form 12 D to the interested voters with disability, had been started to cast vote in their houses.