Visually challenged exempted from poll duty

The Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of all Types of Differently-Abled and Caregivers had given a representation to the commission for giving adequate facilities, including at the polling booths, for those persons with disability as per norms.

Accordingly, the State Election Commission, in its circular to all the election officials and District Collectors, said that among those government staff and teachers, visually-challenged persons are being given exemption in poll-related works.

Quoting the Election Commission of India’s norms, the association, in its letter to the State Election Commission, also pointed out that revenue officials deployed for election duties should make personal efforts to ensure that the special needs and requirements of the physically-challenged persons are taken into account while choosing the polling station for deployment.

“The official should also ensure that physically-challenged persons are not posted at any remote area and rather they should invariably be posted at the polling stations located in the headquarter,” it said, adding, “this can be incorporated in the randomisation software itself so that the database contains information about the physically-challenged personnel, if any and on election duty those persons by posted in any difficult location even inadvertently”.

The association also mentioned that the revenue officials should make a special effort to identify such individuals at the time of training itself and personally meet and discuss with them in order to understand their nature of disabilities and limitations and decide the deployment.