The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections displayed a remarkable increase in the number of differently-abled voters in the State.
Kejriwal Institute of Management and Developmental Studies (KIMDS), aided by Jharkhand Disabled Forum or Jharkhand Viklang Jan Forum, organised a workshop on ‘The participation of Specially Challenged people in the election procedure’ in the city.
“An event like this is a first of its kind in the State. The increase in voter count is indeed the beginning of inclusion in elections. But a lot of work has to be done in this direction to ensure 100 per cent participation of the differently-abled people in elections,” said convener of Jharkhand Disabled People Forum, Rahul Mehta.
In the light of ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’, past Lok Sabha Elections proved to bring a landmark change in the voter count of differently-abled citizens in the State. The Government as well as the Election Board didn’t leave any stone unturned to ensure just voting rights for the differently-abled people.
“We had conducted a survey in all the 24 districts of the state to analyse voter turn-out. A total of 105 differently-abled representatives from all around the State, shared their voting experiences in the event,” said Mehta.
Chief Electoral Officer, L. Khiyangte, explained electoral facilities and the necessary improvements that must be brought in them. In addition to this, he guaranteed the implementation of the various suggestions given in the workshop.
Blood Bank, Representative, Binay Pattnaik, said, “In the past elections, the voting percentage of differently-abled people was between 60-80 per cent in every district of the State. The report of this state-level research will be shared soon with the Government.”
In the event, various measures for ensuring participation of majority of the differently-abled people were taken.
“We are planning to indulge NGOs for this cause. In addition to this, there is also a need of voting personnel in every district dedicated to this cause. We are also planning to spread awareness regarding this issue via campaigns. Provisions for issuing voter cards for differently-abled people will also be made,” said Mehta.
Director of RKDF, SK Singh, Director of the Institute, A. K. Singh, Diwakar Pandey, Gopika also took their views in the workshop. Anoop Rajput, Sandeep, Vijayalakshmi, Navneet etc. had made a remarkable contribution to the workshop too.