Lok Sabha elections 2019: Visually impaired for poll duty in Tamil Nadu, a mistake?
CHENNAI: Government staff with visual impairment appointed for election duty were turned away from training programmes as the officials allegedly claimed their appointment was a ‘mistake’.
K Raghuraman, assistant professor at the Government Arts College, Nandanam, received official intimation stating that he had been appointed as a presiding officer and was asked to attend training session on Sunday. “I was thrilled when I got the letter despite informing the Tahsildar that I suffered from visual impairment. I thought this was the election commission’s way of making election management process more inclusive,” he said.
However, after he attended the training session, he met election officials in person, who told him that his appointment was a ‘mistake’ and that he was ‘wasting his time’. “If they think a presiding officer’s role cannot be taken up by a person with visual impairment they could have given us opportunities to be election observers - a role that I’m sure I could have taken up. I was not even given a chance to share my views and they sent me away, instead,” he said, adding that the entire process was insulting.
Similarly Nagarajan, assistant professor at the Presidency college, said that he went to the training programme at St Peter’s school upon receiving his posting as presiding officer. “I expressed my willingness to perform whatever duty they give me. But they asked me to meet the zonal officer and give in writing that I would be unable to perform the duties. Then, they said that if I still wanted to take it forward, I should submit a petition to the Collector,” he said. “Either they should refrain from posting us and if they do, they should ensure that we can be accommodated,” he added.
Smitha Sadasivam of the Disability Rights Alliance said that the Election Commission of India encourages people with disabilities to be a part of the election management system. However, when contacted, a senior election official said that as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, the general rule is that persons with disabilities are exempted from election duty. “The names are collected from the payrolls and so, there could have been difficulty in identifying persons with disabilities,” the officer said.
However, Nagarajan said that persons with visual impairment were entitled to an additional cash assistance which would reflect in the payrolls and hence, it would not have been difficult to identify them.