No ramps, no sensitivity for differently-abled

CHENNAI: For the differently-abled at the local body polls, inaccessibility continued to remain an issue, like in previous elections. People with disabilities who went to cast their votes on Monday reported several problems that they faced.Brijithammal (76), a Palavakkam resident, ended up not voting as the polling station at the ALM School in University Quarters had 10 steps to climb and no ramp to take her wheelchair up.Mathan Gaberial, son-in-law of Brijithammal and also producer of the movie Maa taken on the differently- abled, who escorted her to the polling booth, said, “It was very disappointing that the election commission had made such arrangements without bothering about accessibility for the differently-abled. When I went and asked the presiding officer about it, I was told that I should contact the election commissioners’s office.”In the polling booth at the Jafferkhanpet Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, the place where the EVMs were kept was too narrow and was impossible for a differently-abled person to squeeze inside. Simmachandran, a resident of Jafferkhanpet who is also the general secretary of Federation of Tamil Nadu Handicapped Association, said, “There is absolutely no space for disabled people like us to go inside and vote. As I couldn’t get inside, the poll officer turned the EVM to  face all the people waiting to vote. The whole idea of secret ballot was gone.”At a polling booth at the Nadar Higher Secondary School in Kottur, Chidambaranathan, president of  Federation of Tamilnadu Handicapped Association, could not take his wheelchair into the polling booth entrance. He said, “The passage is too narrow for the wheelchair. I had to tell the polling officer my choice and he voted for me. The secrecy is lost.”In Poonamallee, the differently-abled (hearing and speech impaired) were made to wait in a regular queue.Simmachandran said, “What is disappointing is that on October 3, we presented a list of differently-abled-friendly measures to the attention of the State Election Commissioner. He also promised us that it will be followed. But today, we are disappointed.”Many booths in the city remained inaccessible for the differently-abled. But Gopalapuram booth had wheelchair access for DMK leader Karunanidhi.