CEO,Delhi, Voters With Disability

8/20/2019 CEO,Delhi, Voters With Disability

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Enabling Voters with Disability -Delhi’s Experience

Presentation before:

Hon’ble Election Commission of

IndiaContext: omination for !pecial "ward

December #$% #&'(

Presented by: Vish)a *ohan and "nil+hola

,ce of Chief Electoral ,cer% Delhi


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The Target Group

• #%./%00# Person with Disabilities in Delhi 1#&'' cens2s3

• 4&5 of them can be estimated as )oters 6 approx '7/&

lacs

• 8heir incl2sion into )oting may help form2lation of p2blic

policy fa)orable to PwDs

• 8raditionally% 9disability’ was seen as a reason for excl2sion

b2t now 9inadequate accommodation’ is considered thereason% maing electoral ocers’ role )ery important7

• !enior citi;ens and sic persons 1temporarily disabled3

also need accommodation to cast )ote


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Media/NGO feedback post - Delhi Assemblylections! "#$% - bared the challenge for us

Much &as needed to be done! to make polling stationaccessible to 'oters &ith disability ( so that they come out

and 'ote &ith dignity)


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The problem areas identi*ed ( &ithstakeholder engagement ( &ith a

resol'e to change• +nfrastructure

– on-a)ailability of appropriate nstable ramps witho2t handrails 6 ?ear of falling

– ,bstacles for wheelchair from polling station gate to the )otingcompartment

– @ac of wheelchairs – @ac of signage

• Training to polling staA – !ensiti;ation needed of special needs of PwDs

– D,s and D,8s not nown for diAerent inds of disability

• Hearing impaired - how to explain them )oting proced2re• !peaing impaired - Polling staA 2nable to 2nderstand them

• Vis2ally disabled 6 how to assist them to cast )ote

• ,ommunication 6 How to con)ey to PwDs to a)ail the legal

pro)isions and ECI’s special arrangements to facilitate them in casting

)ote7


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The olution Matri.


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Going beyond the con'entionalde*nition

• +esides the con)entionally 2nderstood 9)oterswith disability’% senior citi;ens% pregnant women%and )oters with a temporary disability 1fract2redlimb% etc3 also need to be facilitated7

• 8his is important in context of )oting - a non-mandatory acti)ity7

• 8he facilities pro)ided were p2blici;ed inad)ance% so that the )oters with disability did nothesitate to come o2t and )ote7


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The specially made training *lm

• " #'-min2te )ideo Blm was made with ,s’ help 6 essential to

train o)er '&&%&&& personnel% d2ring a limited timeframe% with)ery few trainers7

• 8he Blm depicts

– the correct ramps with handrails and appropriate slope

– )ol2nteers correctly operating wheelchairs

– Polling staA assisting )oters with )is2al% hearing andspeaing disabilities 6 with co2rtesy b2t e2ally

– Polling staA extending preferential entry to PwDs witho2tmaing them wait in 2e2e

– Polling staA allowing companion to blind=inBrm )oters 2nder


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DO and DONT booklet for pollingpersonnel

• Pro)ides details of what needs to be done bypolling personnel to meet re2irements foreach of the maFor disability7

• Emphasi;es the soft part of gi)ing the )oterswith disability a preferential% co2rteo2s andrespectf2l treatment7

• 8his is a colo2red boolet% with manysetches=pictorials specially made% yet printed

at )ery low cost as most of the wor wascarried o2t in-ho2se in association with ,s7

• " handy ready reconer% it was incl2ded inPresiding ,cer’s polling it7


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+nstitutional Mechanism created

• odal ,cer of the Department of Disability "Aairs 1*inistry of!ocial G2stice and Empowerment% ,I3 was appointed in each ofthe nine election district7

• odal ,cer 1Disability3 of DE, was also appointed in eachDistrict and his name and phone n2mber was notiBed innewspapers7

• *eeting was held at the le)el of CE,% Delhi with all !tae holdersincl2ding District Election ,cers% o)ernment departments%,s% and @ocal bodies% spelling o2t role of all and facilitatingf2rther coordination7

• "2dit teams comprising ocers of Instit2te of Physically

Handicapped 1IPH3="@I*C, and !ector ,cers were deployed2nder coordination by odal ocers to chec that infrastr2ct2reat polling locations met the benchmar7

• "dditional teams were deployed by CE, to ens2re facilities7


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0osters and ignage

• ?o2r posters were specially made and displayed at the

polling station 6 one each was pasted behind Polling

,cers '% # and .% and one pasted in the )oting

compartment7

• 8hese are colo2red posters with message in simple words

in both Hindi and English% and also pictorial7

• 8he posters are especially 2sef2l for )oters with hearing

disability% minimi;ing need of oral comm2nication7

• +eneBcial for Brst-time )oters too7

• Posters and !ignage% along with D,s and D,8s boolet

were incl2ded in the presiding ocer’s polling it7

http://var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/Signage%20Pravesh.jpghttp://var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/Signage%20Pravesh.jpg


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+nformation! ducation! ,ommunication1+,2

•ide p2blicity was gi)en to the meas2res p2t in placefor facilitating )oters with disability as well as seniorciti;ens and )oters with temporarydisabilities=debilitation thro2gh:

– CE,’s Press Conferences and brieBngs to mediapersons

– ewspaper ad)ertisements

– !VEEP acti)ities

•


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ummary of Achie'ement/3ork

• 8argeted training imparted to the entire polling staA d2ring

second and third trainings 6 with specially prepared )ideoBlm and power point7

• Professionals from oI instit2tes and rep2ted ,spartnered for training7

• 8he training sensiti;ed and e2ipped the staA in a short time

- to extend appropriate beha)io2ral co2rtesy and assist the)oters with diAerent disabilities with a)ailable reso2rces7

• ,)er .%&&& )ol2nteers trained and deployed with *ay I Help

o2 tags to assist )oters with disabilities7 8hese incl2ded #.')ol2nteers of !! from G>% Gamia *ilia and Delhi >ni)ersityand o)er #4&& *2lti 8asing !taA of C8D% besides the

)ol2nteers from specialised ,s and o)ernmentorgani;ations woring for PwDs7

• !t2dents of Instit2te of Physically Handicapped 1IPH3 ga)e

practical training to )ol2nteers in operating wheelchairs7


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ummary of Achie'ement/3ork contd4

• "ll polling stations deployed disabled friendly physical

infrastr2ct2re7• !mallest details were emphasised: Height of table on which EV* is

placed% no loose cables to obstr2ct wheelchair mo)ement% ade2atespace between f2rnit2re to t2rn the wheelchair% caref2l barricadingso as not to obstr2ct wheelchairs% etc7

•

,s and go)ernment disability professionals teamed 2p with theelection staA to a2dit the infrastr2ct2re ahead of poll day7

• J&& wheelchairs were deployed at polling locations with trainedoperators=)ol2nteers to ser)e the orthopedically disabled% sicpersons and senior citi;ens7

• ,2r endea)o2rs made the elections more incl2si)e and pro)idedreplicable models 6 in terms of training% infra% as well as instit2tions7

• !2ccessf2l o2tcome can also be ga2ged from the feedbac of ,sand media reports% who all praised the Election Commission forenabling )oters with disability to happily cast their )ote with dignity7


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Turnaround from "#$%


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Thanks4

CEO,Delhi, Voters With Disability

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