BHUBANESWAR: The Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) has decided to distribute wheelchairs procured for use during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to beneficiaries under the Bhima Bhoi Bhinnakshyama Samarthya Abhiyan (BBSA).
The department on Friday informed the district social welfare officers that all the eligible persons with locomotor disabilities would be provided the wheelchairs under the scheme after the election is over on June 1.
The department had procured around 39,000 wheelchairs from the Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India for use during elections. There are around 5.16 lakh PwD voters in the state.
While provisions had been made for PwDs to vote from home, in a bid to make the elections accessible for those who chose to cast their votes at booths, the department had stationed at least one wheelchair in each of the 37,809 polling stations and kept a contingency of five per cent extra wheelchairs to accommodate additional requirements.