Tough time for physically challenged as poll panel fails to ramp up facilities

“My legs are disabled and hence cannot walk. When I went to Lady Sivaswami Iyer school polling station to cast my vote, there was a wheelchair in the polling station but I could not find any volunteers,” P Ramarajan, an advocate by profession, said. He added that he had to therefore crawl into the station to cast his vote. “There was not even proper ramp facility at the station. Some policemen saw me crawling, but no one offered me help,” he said.

It was not just Ramarajan, but many other physically challenged people too in the city who had underwent the ordeal.

“The Chennai Corporation promised the differently-abled people of wheelchairs, ramps and volunteers for assistance. But in reality, the promises were not completely fulfilled. In a polling station in Velachery, where I voted, there was no ramp and wheelchair facilities,” S Namburajan, State general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers said.

Officials claimed that they had arranged vehicles to take PwD voters to polling booths, but the helpline remained non-functional throughout the day. Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash, however, said that the civic body had made arrangements for the differently-abled in the city. “There are 913 polling locations in the city and volunteers (below 18 years of age) to help those voters with disabilities,” he added.