Braille ballots, ramps missing at several polling booths during LS polls

Accessibility features for voters with disabilities, including Braille ballot paper, disabled-friendly toilets and ramps were missing at several polling booths across the country during the Lok Sabha polls, according to a first-of-its-kind audit. Conducted by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), the audit was set against the backdrop of the Election Commission declaring the 17th Lok Sabha Polls as 'Accessible Elections'.

In Guwahati for instance, the polling booth was on the upper floor in a building without an elevator. Ironically, Arman Ali, Executive Director of the NCPEDP, who announced the audit, himself waited at the voting premises for two hours till polling officials actually hauled him upstairs to vote, according to the Report on Accessibility during Elections 2019.

Based on data collected by disability sector members across the country, it was found that ramps at polling booths did not adhere to the standardized design of 1:12 gradient. "They were rickety, wooden/temporary, too steep which were difficult for wheelchair users to access. Such ill constructed ramps made it difficult to push the wheelchair up. Some ramps were unsteady which compromised with the safety of the disabled person," the report stated.

The report pointed out that Malviya Nagar 054, St Edmunds School, polling booth number 165, 166,167,168, Jaipur had not only narrow pathways but also damaged roads and debris at exits. Ramps in the majority of booths in Gujarat were not up to standards, the report stated.

When it came to lighting inside the polling booth, most of them were up to standard barring booth number 054, Malviya Nagar in Jaipur and booth number 53, Simhadri Panda MPL high school in Odisha which was inadequately lit to an extent that people with normal vision found it difficult to see things, making it all the more a challenge for a person with low vision, the report said. The provision of Braille Ballot paper, while available at a few booths, was absent in many others. Only a handful of booths like number 59 Central School in Karkardooma, Delhi and booth number 194, in Talabaranga UP school in Odisha were reported to have Braille ballot paper.

Washrooms being a basic necessity, the majority of polling booths across the country did not have disabled-friendly toilets. For instance, washrooms were inaccessible at polling booths like that of booth numbers 116,117,118, Amritsar East.

Despite scorching heat at most polling booths, water dispensers were not at an adequate height for wheelchair users. However, such accessibility arrangements for persons with a disability were of good standards at polling booths in Goa, the report stated. One of the most important steps that ensure accessibility across the country is training and sensitizing volunteers or booth level officers.

Simadri Panda MPL high school, booth number 56 in Orissa, was one such booth wherein the booth level officer was "rude" and did not behave in a proper manner with PwD and had no information on disabilities. There was also a lack of volunteers on ground for assistance at Polling Booth number- 116, 117, 118 in Amritsar East.

Accessibility arrangements in states like Goa and Gujarat (Sabarkantha, Anand) showed huge improvement with wheelchair friendly vehicles being made available to transport persons with disabilities to polling booths. Additionally, a majority of booths in Gujarat were also equipped with Braille. This is a step forward, given that persons with disabilities featured on India Census as late as 2001, five decades after independence.

Arman Ali, the convenor of the audit said, "This audit is just a beginning and it only shows us accessibility is not about ramps and wheelchairs, it is much more and the entire ecosystem needs to be involved. There was an honest attempt made by the Election Commission of India. They also hired a person with a disability as a consultant and engaged NGOs to make an impact. However, the change will happen, only when disability is not looked at in isolation and synergised as part of everything that involves masses."