Bhubaneswar: Elections in Odisha will commence in less than 10 days and over 40 lakhs voters with disabilities are eligible to cast their vote but this seems a faraway dream as many who are eligible to vote have not registered themselves nor are aware of the existing facilities promised by ECI said members of Odisha State disABILITY Network and Swabhiman at the press club in the state, Wednesday.
CEO of Swabhiman and activist for differently-abled, Shruti Mohapatra said, “People with disabilities do not get recognition or help for voting and sometime not even recognized for voting despite the fact that in 1995 disabled people were guaranteed equal opportunities with the passing of The Disability Act. The situation did not change much in the 14th Lok Sabha elections in 2004. It was the fourth general election since the passing of the Act but facilities for millions of voters were still missing at polling stations across the country. Despite lot of consultation and discussion the steps are still unsatisfactory”.
The counting of the disabled population is also misleading. In terms of disabled population, there are more than 60-70 lakh differently-abled people in Odisha but as per 2011 census there are only 12,44,000 differently-abled persons which shows that many people are not even eligible for voting in this election.
As per 2015 World Report on Disability – 15% of the population is disabled. As per Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, that number increased from 7 to 21 (3 times). Average 60% of population is of voting age. Considering all the above – minimum population of disabled is 60-70 lakhs in Odisha and voters with disability number 40 lakhs at the minimum.
Kartika Chandra Pandav, member of Odisha State disABILITY Network, said that the basic reason for organising this meet is to show that despite all the big steps which the SSEPD department and other department of government has undertaken for accessibility of election for disabled persons, as per our research and survey we had found that till date, no district level Accessible Elections Committee has been formed, the facilities to ensure accessible voting for all are way off the mark. Also, out of the 200 differently-abled persons who were interviewed, 90 per cent of them are not aware that ‘Accessible Election’ is this year’s theme of Election Commission of India.
He also said that of the 150 schools (probable polling booths) visited, most of schools do not have accessibility features. Ramps are broken, unrepaired hand rails, no toilets, accessible toilets have no running water (in many instances no water) facilities.
Sudipta Mishra, a social activist said, “In 2007 the Supreme Court had ordered that certain facilities have to be provided to voters with disability but unfortunately the order has not been implemented properly till now in Odisha and some other states.
In 2009, the EC had set up Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) to facilitate voting by all citizens. In 2009, Odisha failed its voters with disabilities. In 2014 Cuttack was the only district which did exemplary work to uphold the dignity of voters with disabilities.