RAYAGADA: Rayagada administration has began work to include the left out differently-abled voters in the voters list. It has carried out a special drive for their enumeration and enrolment in the voters list following a direction by the Election Commission, said Collector Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar.
According to the 2011 socio-economic census, there were 28,334 people with disabilities (PWDs) in the district. However, names of only 1,232 PWDs found space in the voters list. Names of other PWDs were included in the general voters list as they failed to provide disability ID cards during the time of enrolment then.
Recently, the administration conducted a special drive to identify and enroll all PWD voters. This time, the number of PWDs eligible for voting has rose to 21,334. The Collector said the administration is working towards including PWDs from panchayat, block and district level in the voters list.