BENGALURU: Of the about 11,000 voters with disabilities in the city, 90 have booked the wheelchair and pick-up and drop facilities for the Lok Sabha elections. In the entire state, of the 4.03 lakh voters with disabilities, 11,951 have booked the facilities“Persons with disabilities (PWD) have made bookings through both the 1950 helpline and the Chunavana app.
The state election commission has appointed an officer in each district to get in touch with PWD voters, get their EPIC (Electoral Photo ID Card) number and ask them about the facility they need. Many of the booking have also been made through the door-to-door manual checking done by our staffers for PWD voters,” said Surya Sen, Joint Chief Electoral Officer.
This is the first general elections for which pick-up and drop facility has been offered in Karnataka. Among the 4.03 lakh PWD voters in the state, 10,995 are from Bengaluru. Thirty three of them have booked wheelchairs while 57 have opted for pick-up and drop facility in the city through the Chunavana app. As for the state on a whole, 3,816 and 8,135 PWD voters have booked wheelchairs and transport facility, respectively.
“When our officers contact the PWD voters personally, they are asked about the facilities needed. Not every PWD voter needed transport. It was asked for mostly by those with locomotor disabilities. We are expecting a good response from them on the polling day as we have ensured that no one is left behind,” Sen said, adding that all polling stations will have wheelchairs, irrespective of the bookings. A total of 67 senior citizens have also booked wheelchairs in Karnataka.
The government has also signed up Ola and Uber cab services to offer transport facilities under the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Bookings for wheelchair and transport facility for voting in Phase-1 (April 18) closed on Tuesday. It is available for those voting during Phase-2 (April 23) until 6 pm on April 21.
Voters with disability
Karnataka: 4.03 lakh
Bengaluru: 10,995
Bookings for wheelchairs
Karnataka: 3,816
Bengaluru: 33
Bookings for pick-up and drop facility
Karnataka: 8,135
Bengaluru: 57