Disable-Friendly Polling Booths Needed During Elections

Needed: disabled-friendly polling booths

During the Assembly elections (2013) in Palace Guttahalli (Karnataka), a wheelchair-bound woman came to exercise her franchise at a Government Urdu Primary School but could not enter the polling booth as there was no ramp.
Arrangements to help such people cast their votes although promised by Election Commission, has not been reflected on the ground. Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, Anil Kumar Jha pointed that at booths located on the various floors of a building it is difficult to ensure such facilities.
Mr.Jain,founder of Astha (organisation for disable people) said the authorities should identify booths with a large concentration of people with disabilities & make necessary arrangements there, like :
- launch an SMS drive under which disabled can send their Voter ID number to a designated mobile number and indicate their disability.
- replicate the initiative taken by Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi who provided a website for registering disabilities and their nature of disability.
- generate data of persons with disabilities booth-wise and take alleviating steps.
- a deadline for registration to be fixed and the data can be shared with officials in-charge of booths.
2011 Census identified 1.8 % of the population as disabled in Bangalore but NGOs estimated 2.7 %.

Exams Perspective: