Even after Election Commission’s tall promises, some differently-abled voters had to face problems in Mumbai. In the city, there are around 7,000 registered differently abled voters of whom 4,500 live in the suburbs.
According to Indian Express, wheelchair-bound Ruchita Dalal (29) went to cast vote after 11 years, but the Malad resident had to return home without casting her vote. Her polling booth was located on the first floor. Dalal told the leading daily, “I was asked to shift to a plastic chair bound by two wooden poles (to be taken to the booth). But the stairway was narrow and the chair rickety. There was not enough space for two people to take the stairs. I could not risk it.” Even after registering herself on PwD app of the Election Commission, she was told that her registration had not been confirmed.
Another voter, Sunita Didwani (54), who is suffering from locomotive disability volunteered to provide her car to transport disabled people to polling booths. She told the leading daily, “I requested several people to help. The polling booth was in the basement. Finally, my driver and two police officers picked my wheelchair and took me to the basement.” Another voter named Amar Jain, who is visually impaired, complained saying that there was no braille on the ballot paper. He told the leading daily, “They didn’t understand I would need ballot paper with braille. While nationally EC has made progress, in Maharashtra, even the web portal is not friendly for blind people to check for the voter list.”