Page 239 - Leap of Faith Vol - 2

Recent Initiatives Chapter 9

MAKING ELECTIONS ACCESSIBLE method was replaced by Braille-embedded serial
number of candidates in both M2 (post 2006 models) and
According to Census 2011, there were 2.68 crore people M3 (post 2013 models) of EVMs. Immediately a er the
in India marked as Persons with Disabili es (PwD). The
approved list of candidates is issued, the Returning
fresh decennial census has been delayed due to the
Officer is required to get it rendered into Braille (of both
pandemic. The Rights of Persons with Disabili es Act, regional languages and English) in the same serial order
2016 came into effect on April 19, 2017. Sec on 11 of the
as they would appear on the ballot paper on the Ballo ng
staid statute mandates that Elec on Commission of India unit of the EVMs. The year 2018 also witnessed
(and State Elec on Commissions in charge of local body
upgrading of Photo Voter Slips with accessible Braille
elec ons) shall ensure that polling sta ons are made
features, and extension of free transport facility for
accessible to Persons with Disabili es and all elec on
PwDs. Accessibility Observers were first appointed
related content is provided to PwD in an accessible
during Seventeenth Lok Sabha elec ons (2019). The PwD
format. Elec on Commission of India had already been App with visual and auditory naviga on features was
taking recognisable steps in this direc on for almost a
launched in 2020. Since then it has been upgraded, and
decade. Following a direc on of the Hon'ble Supreme
recently renamed as Saksham-ECI App.
Court, the Chief Electoral Offices of all states/UTs were
instructed in 2007 to construct permanent ramps in
polling sta ons for people with locomo ve difficul es.
Similarly, direc ons were issued in 2009 for se ng up
auxiliary polling sta ons for visually impaired persons. In
2015, the Elec on Commission set up a technical
commi ee to suggest measures to improve accessibility.
It comprised people who were themselves PwDs. The
Interna onal Conference on Inclusion of Persons with
Disabili es in the Electoral Process on January 24, 2018 –
organised by Elec on Commission of India-was a
watershed event. A series of consulta ons with
stakeholders in state and district level in May and June,
2018 culminated in the Na onal Consulta on for
Accessible Elec ons on July 3-4, 2018. A 14-point Strategic
Framework on Accessible Elec ons was released on the
occasion. The Electors Photo Iden ty Cards (EPIC) with
Braille feature was launched on the occasion.

For the benefit of the visually impaired PwDs, Braille
s ckers were pasted on the right side of the vo ng
bu ons in all EVMs since 2009. In 2018, this ad-hoc Ramps to make voting easier for Persons with Disabilities

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