Booths are ‘unfriendly’ to the impaired

Jasmina Khanna, 35, a cerebral palsy patient has been casting her vote from the past 17 years. But every time she faces the same problem of “no accessibility”. 

A resident of Lokhandwala Complex at Andheri, Khanna says, “I had gone to vote today and went through one of the worst experiences of my life. The voting booth had no access ramps to allow me to vote, making the booth inaccessible.”

Firstly, it took 30 minutes for Khanna to figure out her polling booth. “When I finally found it, there was a big queue,” she explains. “Since there was only one person accompanying me, we needed more help.”

But people refused to help her. Since Khanna was determined to cast her vote, she refused to call it quits. “It was a sad commentary on human behaviour,” she says. “When I asked for help to be carried into the booth, people refused to come forward. It seems the government wants to deny disabled people their rights and is perpetuating segregation.”

According to Khanna, the state should make provisions for residents who are physically impaired. “I wanted to cast my vote, but my disability prevented me from exercising my rights,” she says.