Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar today chaired a consultative meeting with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India where DEPwD made a presentation for partnership with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to strengthen institutional collaboration for achieving the ECI goal of inclusive, accessible and participatory elections. During the meeting, various aspects of cooperation to strengthen polling station infrastructure including accessible toilets, tactile tiles and temporary props, exchange of available data for targeted interventions and outreach, development of appropriate informational content, stakeholder engagement with national level Institutes, civil society organizations were discussed during the meeting /NGOs working in the field and training and capacity building of election officials.
Sharing his larger vision, CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar emphasized on achieving a new normal enabling environment in the entire electoral process ecosystem from registration to voting to encourage Divyanjans for their active engagement and participation. Shri Kumar said that PwD achievers and trained individuals nominated by DEPwD will be associated as partners to complement ECI’s efforts to make constituencies more Divyangjan friendly. The CEC recounted his experiences from his student years to highlight the need for a change in attitude and behavior towards the differently-abled and said that specific training would be given to survey staff for proper sensitization.
He added that contrary to popular perception, Divyangjans are actually more capable and their development of inner senses often outweighs their obstacles. The CEC also said that instructions have been issued to all Chief Electoral Officers to make intensive efforts to ensure 100% registration of divyangjans in the electoral roll. Addressing the meeting, Election Commissioner Shri Anup Chandra Pandey emphasized the need to develop partnerships with CSOs, NGOs and National Institutes, field infrastructure associated with DEPwD to further add value to ECI’s ongoing efforts in reaching out to Divyangjans and ensuring their participation. in the electoral process.
Added training and sensitization of election officials and development of available information materials and use of available databases with DEPwD for targeted outreach. DEPwD Secretary Ms. Anjali Bhawra made a detailed presentation before the Commission highlighting the legal provisions as mandated by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, initiatives taken by DEPwD including IT applications such as the Sugamya Bharat application for grievance redressal, creation of a national database of persons with disabilities for a unique disability card and flagship schemes of the Department for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
The presentation covering various legal provisions in the RP Act and Electoral Conduct Rules, 1961 for Persons with Disabilities and ECI initiatives like Braille and Braille voter EPICs, includes EVMs, PwD application mapping, option of home voting through postal voting, transport facilities, special focus on enrollment of PWD voters during special comprehensive revision of electoral roll, involvement of stakeholders, sign language interpreters at important meetings and PWD coordinators to ensure barrier-free elections over the years, Deputy Election Commissioner Shri Nitesh Vyas said.
Senior officials from ECI and DEPwD were present in the meeting. The director of the National Institute for the Empowerment of the Visually Impaired and a representative of the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center also attended the meeting. A unique feature of today’s meeting was CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar’s capacity building initiative and encouragement of two differently abled ECI staff to anchor the proceedings of the meeting.
