Voting with dignity; the disabled want inclusion not charity - The Times of India
Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2011 CHENNAI: The disabled insist that they want inclusion, not charity born out of pity. But in this election, their voting depended on others' help. At Krishnaswamy Matriculation School in Anna Nagar, poll officials told R Srinivasan that he had to take the help of his 80-year-old mother to vote. They wouldn't give a Braille ballot paper to Srinivasan, who is visually challenged. As he went near the machine with his mother R Jayalakshmi to vote, he found that the serial numbers of the candidates were inscribed on the EVM in Braille. If the officials had given Srinivasan the Braille ballot paper, he would have been able to match the numbers on the machine with the symbol and voted on his own. "I had to ask my mother to locate the symbol I wanted to vote for," he said. At Kottur Nadar Uravin Murai school, when G Chidambaranathan rolled his wheelchair into the booth, he found that his chair could not squeeze into the voting area. Poll officials pulled the table with the EVM away from the wall so that he could reach the machine. In the same school, Jayaraman, another disabled person, had to be helped into the booth since there was no ramp. Officials said they had no instructions to provide ramps for the disabled but helped voters. "That's not what we need," said TMN Deepak, vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation. G Chidambaranathan, who is also the president of the federation, said the Election Commission had promised that the booths would have ramps. Raghuraman, though, had an easier time at the Sitadevi Garodia School in Tambaram. An assistant professor of English at the Government Arts College in Nandanam, Raghuraman was given the Braille ballot paper. Raghuraraman, who commutes every day by himself, said technology is helping him live a regular life. Special software helps him to surf the internet and use email; his mobile phone speaks to him while making calls. "Many blind people do not know Braille. Audio tools and headsets could be used to help blind voters exercise their democratic right with dignity," he said. View the article at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/specials/assembly-elections-2011/tamil-nadu/Voting-with-dignity-the-disabled-want-inclusion-not-charity/articleshow/7976681.cms To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
