I voted for a
change today. I must say though, in all frankness, that the experience was
anything but enjoyable or uplifting.
A sustained
campaign by the disability movement in India culminated in the enactment
of the Disability Act in 1995, which guaranteed people with disabilities equal
opportunities in all walks of life. Yet, it took instructions from the Supreme
Court of India in April 2004 to ensure that an electorate which was so far
invisible was able to exercise its right to universal franchise as enshrined in
the constitution of India
- for the first time perhaps - in the ensuing General Election - making it the first truly democratic one since independence.
The 2004 election
saw a government topple and heads roll. What doesn't seem to have changed is
the sheer apathy of the powers-that-be towards the specially-abled electorate.
Despite news reports, attributed to the election commission, that special
arrangements are in place for the senior citizens and the physically challenged
to be able to vote, there were none it seems - certainly not where Jaipuria School,
Vasundhara, Ghaziabad,
is concerned. I walk with the help of crutches and find even short walking distances
challenging and yet, despite telling the security men at the entrance that I
would find it very difficult to negotiate the distance to the polling booth, I
wasn't allowed to take my car to the entry porch, quite unlike the last time
around, and had to walk about 50 metres to the hall that led to the polling
booths and then further negotiate a flight of steps. To put it all in
perspective, walking 50 metres for me is akin to your running a mile under 15
minutes - no mean feat am told - and having to negotiate a flight of steps thereafter
is like being asked to do a set of jump squats after that mile long run! My
travails didn't quite end there. I had to walk another 75 metres to the polling
booth. A sentry on duty took a look at a, by now, profusely sweating yours
truly and allowed me to jump to the head of the queue. There were other voters
who were far worse off than me - I saw at least 2 people, including a woman,
trying to negotiate the entire maze with the help of walkers. There were no
ramps, no passages with enough width that could be negotiated by wheelchair
users, and certainly no sensitized personnel to assist – people were refused
wheelchairs despite asking for them. My parents, pushing 80 now, too had a bad
time standing in the queue - my father's name didn't even figure in the voting
list for some mysterious reason.
All this just
goes to show that one shouldn't really rely on news reports and public-relation
press releases - hell of a difference between the news reports and the
situation on the ground to my chagrin. Good intentions gone bad due to poor execution or
sheer apathy? I simply thanked heavens as I heaved a sigh of relief as I
slumped down into my car having cast my vote and run what can, perhaps, best be
described as a steeple chase. I didn’t quite wait to see how the voters walking
with the help of walkers fared as I had to report to office.
20 years since
the enactment of the disability act and 5 general elections later, the lack of
sensitivity on the part of the Election Commission towards the impediments that the physically challenged face at the polling booths is nothing short of sheer
disappointment, if not outright criminal - is it not the duty of the Election
Commission to ensure that people with disabilities are able to exercise a right
guaranteed by the constitution of India? When the election commission can ensure
that the officials on election duty and the armed forces personnel can cast their vote,
why is it that millions of people with disabilities either dare not venture out
of their homes or return home without having cast their vote? Why is it that
facilities for millions of physically challenged voters are still missing at the polling stations across the country or are only provided at the booths where
celebrities come out in droves and present photo-opportunities? Why are the
security and the election commission personnel not sensitized towards the needs of the
physically challenged and why is it that no action is taken against them when they are
found wanting in the discharge of their duties towards people with
disabilities? Aren’t people with disabilities citizens of India? Don’t
they have the right to vote? Why have all the human-rights activists gone to
ground on this issue?
In an
interview in 2004, I had asked Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi if people with disabilities
had any place in 'Shining India'. If memory serves me right, he didn’t quite
know how to respond and made the usual diplomatic noises. I guess ‘Incredible
India’ in 2014, just as was the case with 'Shining India' in 2004, hardly has any
place for the physically challenged in its scheme of things. Shame!
I voted for a change today –
now to see if a more inclusive dawn is at hand.
