Telangana is role model in providing amenities to voters: Joint CEO

Hyderabad: Joint CEO Amrapali Kata said that our Telangana State has become a role model to the other states in the country in providing necessary amenities for the larger engagement of PwDs in the electoral process.

Office of the Chief Electoral office held an interactive session with the persons with the disabilities (PwDs), representative of NGOs working for PwDs in the secretariat on Wednesday. Joint Chief Electoral officers Amrapali Kata and Ravi Kiran and Director, Welfare and Disabled Shailaja participated in the interactive session.

Joint Chief Electoral Officer Amarapali Kata requested the participants to offer their opinion, suggestions and improvements based on the initiatives implemented in the Assembly elections in 2018 to enable the Office of the CEO to implement measures that would enable voters with disabilities to exercise their franchise with greater ease of effort.

During the interaction, the need to engage more PwDs and increase the number mapped to the polling stations was discussed. They requested to conduct awareness camp on EVMs and VVPATs to create awareness among the electors. They were satisfied for providing transportation due to which the percentage of polling has escalated. They have expressed their gratitude to the CEO for providing many facilities for them which boosted their participation in the election process.

Later, Amrapali explained about the facilities provided like Epic Cards in Braille, a pamphlet of sign language was released for the use of deaf and dumb. EVMS are kept at a level easily accessible by PwDs on Wheel Chairs, Provision of Sturdy Ramps at specific measurements, Wheel Chairs, Signage Boards, Designated Parking, To and Fro Transportation.