Fire Brigade staff helps woman with polio to cast vote

Mumbai: A Mumbra resident affected by polio managed to cast her vote on her third attempt after the fire brigade staff took her to the booth on the second floor of the polling centre on a stretcher. The woman could not go up even with the help of a chair so the Election Commission (ECI) arranged for fire rescue staff to help her vote.

Noorjahan Khan (48) told The Asian Age, “At around 10am, I went to Abdullah High School, more than half a kilometre away from my house, to cast my vote but after reaching there I came to know that I needed to go to the second floor to cast my vote and there was no lift in the school.”

“My right leg is affected due to polio and I use callipers. My weight is also an issue, so it is not possible for me to climb the stairs to reach the second floor so I came back home,” she said, adding, “Later, I spoke to Yusuf bhai, a member of an organisation working for the handicapped. I went to cast my vote again but this attempt also failed because there was a small wheelchair that was used as a doli and I couldn’t sit on it because of calipers,” she said.

“At around 3pm, I received a call from the election department and I was asked to reach the school where fire brigade personnel would be arranged to carry me to the second floor on a stretcher,” she said.

“When I reached there for the third time, the firemen took me to the second floor where I cast my vote and I am happy that I was able to exercise my franchise,” she said.

In Mumbai south constituency too, many aged voters at Souter school had to struggle because polling booths were on the first and second floors. A local resident Altaf Patel said, “Many senior citizens found it difficult to climb to the first and second floors to cast their votes.”

According to additional chief electoral officer Dilip Shinde, “Transport facilities, wheel chairs and dolis were arranged for people who were in need of such facilities.”