ECI to provide pick up and drop for PwDs these polls

Mumbai: Persons with disabilities (PwDs) will get special treatment in this election as the Election Commission (EC) is planning to provide a pick up and drop service to PwDs from their home to the booth and back.

The EC will be connected with through their contact numbers. The EC will also provide braille language-based machines to help visually challenged individuals in voting.

In order to reach out to as many voters, the EC is running campaigns for different categories. Pro-viding adequate disabled-friendly facilities is also a cause for concern for the EC. The EC has also announced the slogan, ‘Accessible Elections’.

With its registration drive, field officers are verifying the contact numbers of PwDs to get in touch with them on election-day. “Collectors will decide about their transport. At a few places, they are taking help from NGOs,” said Dilip Shinde, additional chief electoral officer for state.

Officials are verifying the PwDs’ names and addresses with the help of NGOs, municipal corporations and registration with the EC. “We will take them to the booth and will drop them at home. We are trying to tie up with private transport services,” said Satyanarayan Bajaj, deputy collector for Mumbai suburbs.