Guwahati: Assam has about 4,80,065 PwDs (other folks with disabilities), out of which 1,34,479 are within the age staff of 0 to 19 years and 70,000 are citizens. Activists campaigning for the rights of PwDs stated revel in displays that greater than 50% of the PwD citizens don't exercise their franchise.
“Lack of bodily get entry to and amenities at polling cubicles are some of the causes which were holding such citizens clear of polling cubicles for years. Moreover, a big various PwD citizens wouldn't have their voter ID playing cards. Many are also no longer aware of their vote casting rights. As it's, they're a minority in mainstream society and in relation to vote casting, they're much more marginalised,” stated Amvalika Senapati, coordinator of Shishu Sarothi’s disability law unit for the northeast. Shishu Sarothi is a non-government centre for rehabilitation and training in multiple disability. She added that what has additional alienated such citizens is loss of political will to verify them their rights.
This election, the manager electoral officer (CEO) right here stated that beneath its ‘Enajori’ initiative, steps were taken in collaboration with the social welfare department and the Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission to ensure that about 70,000 PwD citizens don't shy clear of exercising their franchise.
Every district will have a transport nodal officer to coordinate transport amenities for PwD citizens. Also, over 200 ‘Dibyang Sarothis’ will be serving to the special citizens to exercise their franchise. “Various steps were taken to make polling cubicles PwD-friendly. Our effort is to verify no voter is deprived of his vote casting right as a result of disabilities,” stated joint CEO Pankaj Chakraborty.
On March 16, the office of the commissioner for persons with disabilities wrote to the state CEO that PwD citizens registered as electors are “usually inconvenienced, amongst others, as a result of the non-availability of conveyance to and from the polling stations and the need to queue up to cast their votes and also in the real act of casting their votes”.
The letter additional stated, “To succeed in the target of making this a really available election for PwD citizens and going beyond symbolism, it will be appropriate and desirable to believe making arrangements for the conveyance of PwDs to and from polling stations the use of motor cars, rickshaws or every other mode of transportation. Since the election equipment will be considerably stressed out and may find it difficult to give complete attention, the assistance of quite a lot of associations of PwDs, who've energetic members around the state, may possibly be taken in establishing such support....”
The commission has also requested the CEO to believe the disability certificates issued through the competent authority as one of the vital documents to ascertain the identification of the PwD in case the voter isn't in possession of the EPIC card. “This time now we have launched a different mobile software that facilitates PwDs no longer simplest to get their names integrated within the voter checklist, but in addition avail multiple amenities to help them exercise their franchise,” Chakraborty stated.
On Wednesday, Shishu Sarothi launched its report on ‘Sustainable Development Goals Disability Tracker II’, which stated that out of 201 respondents amongst PwDs in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts within the Bodoland Territorial Area District, simplest 2% of the respondents have permanent employment and ‘none of them have got a task beneath the statutory reservations for persons with disabilities’ within the government sector.
The report also highlighted that greater than half of PwDs who participated within the study wouldn't have an available bathroom (of their faculty, space and community). It added that 99% of the respondents stated they confronted difficulties in accessing water and sanitation all the way through their stay in reduction camps in occasions of struggle within the districts in the past.
“Lack of bodily get entry to and amenities at polling cubicles are some of the causes which were holding such citizens clear of polling cubicles for years. Moreover, a big various PwD citizens wouldn't have their voter ID playing cards. Many are also no longer aware of their vote casting rights. As it's, they're a minority in mainstream society and in relation to vote casting, they're much more marginalised,” stated Amvalika Senapati, coordinator of Shishu Sarothi’s disability law unit for the northeast. Shishu Sarothi is a non-government centre for rehabilitation and training in multiple disability. She added that what has additional alienated such citizens is loss of political will to verify them their rights.
This election, the manager electoral officer (CEO) right here stated that beneath its ‘Enajori’ initiative, steps were taken in collaboration with the social welfare department and the Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission to ensure that about 70,000 PwD citizens don't shy clear of exercising their franchise.
Every district will have a transport nodal officer to coordinate transport amenities for PwD citizens. Also, over 200 ‘Dibyang Sarothis’ will be serving to the special citizens to exercise their franchise. “Various steps were taken to make polling cubicles PwD-friendly. Our effort is to verify no voter is deprived of his vote casting right as a result of disabilities,” stated joint CEO Pankaj Chakraborty.
On March 16, the office of the commissioner for persons with disabilities wrote to the state CEO that PwD citizens registered as electors are “usually inconvenienced, amongst others, as a result of the non-availability of conveyance to and from the polling stations and the need to queue up to cast their votes and also in the real act of casting their votes”.
The letter additional stated, “To succeed in the target of making this a really available election for PwD citizens and going beyond symbolism, it will be appropriate and desirable to believe making arrangements for the conveyance of PwDs to and from polling stations the use of motor cars, rickshaws or every other mode of transportation. Since the election equipment will be considerably stressed out and may find it difficult to give complete attention, the assistance of quite a lot of associations of PwDs, who've energetic members around the state, may possibly be taken in establishing such support....”
The commission has also requested the CEO to believe the disability certificates issued through the competent authority as one of the vital documents to ascertain the identification of the PwD in case the voter isn't in possession of the EPIC card. “This time now we have launched a different mobile software that facilitates PwDs no longer simplest to get their names integrated within the voter checklist, but in addition avail multiple amenities to help them exercise their franchise,” Chakraborty stated.
On Wednesday, Shishu Sarothi launched its report on ‘Sustainable Development Goals Disability Tracker II’, which stated that out of 201 respondents amongst PwDs in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts within the Bodoland Territorial Area District, simplest 2% of the respondents have permanent employment and ‘none of them have got a task beneath the statutory reservations for persons with disabilities’ within the government sector.
The report also highlighted that greater than half of PwDs who participated within the study wouldn't have an available bathroom (of their faculty, space and community). It added that 99% of the respondents stated they confronted difficulties in accessing water and sanitation all the way through their stay in reduction camps in occasions of struggle within the districts in the past.
Assam makes spl provisions for disabled voters at booths
![Assam makes spl provisions for disabled voters at booths]()
Reviewed by Kailash
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March 28, 2019
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