Only 4 lakh disabled persons in Telangana make it to voters list

Hyderabad: Out of 14 lakh disabled people in Telangana state, only four lakh were present in the current voters list prepared by the election commission. After the government revised the disabled categories to 21, the population has increased even more.

The All India Disabled Rights Forum (AIDRF) has demanded an inclusive election where the disabled were not left out. The association has given a representation to the Chief Electoral Officer Mr Prakash Rawath on Wednesday at Delhi regarding this.

The list of disabled people that the election commission has now is of the 2011 census, and they have figured out that only 4.16 lakhs have voting rights. The state election commission is also planning to identify all the disabled people, district-wise, by mapping methods to ensure that they are also included in the list and exercise their voting rights. They have been collecting information from Aadhaar cards and other departments.

The All India Disabled Rights Forum has requested that all the polling stations be made accessible to all the categories of disabled people, by providing toilets, escorts to help, wheelchair, and maintaining special queues. They have been continuously giving representations to all the concerned officials, starting from GHMC Commissioner, Mr Dhana, Chief Electoral Officers of the state and Election Commission of India. They are also going to give the petition to the Home minister Mr Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Friday.

Speaking to this newspaper, Mr Kolli Nageswara rao, AIDRF, said, “We want all the 21 categories of disabled people to be in the voters list.  There are only five categories that most people are aware of and can recognise, but there are many others and everyone should be included in the list, only then elections should be conducted. There is a need for special campaigning and door to door verification methods to recognise more number of disabled people in the electoral list.”