Wheelchairs and volunteers assist physically challenged in Palghar

Volunteers help a senior citizen get to the polling booth at a station in Virar west

While many polling stations were bereft of facilities for the physically challenged and senior citizens, the situation was refreshingly different in Palghar district, where arrangements were made to bring in physically challenged voters and drop them back to their homes.

The voters had a car to take them to the polling stations, where they didn't have to wait in queue to cast their votes, and drop them back home once they were done. This process had begun as a part of the run-up to the polls.

Explaining the same, the district's social development officer Vibha Jadhav said, "We had conducted a survey and made a list of physically challenged voters before the election. Now, we have been calling them to know when they would be able to come to the polling stations to vote."

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The voters had a car to take them to the polling stations, where they didn't have to wait in queue to cast their votes, and drop them back home once they were done

Virar resident Suresh Pawar, 43, thanked the government for the initiative, "I am visually challenged person, as is my wife. Until last year, we had to take an auto rickshaw to reach the polling booth. But this time, the government has given us relief by arranging vehicles for us.

The polling booths also had representatives stationed to help physically challenged voters. Jidnyasa Polekar, from the National Service Scheme, who was one of the assistants, said, "We kept wheelchairs for physically challenged and senior citizens. We also assisted visually challenged voters to understand the process of voting so that they can cast their ballot sans any hassle."

Bolstering voter turnout

Palghar collector Dr. Prashant Narnaware told mid-day that they had taken a number of initiatives to bolster voters' turnout in the district. "We had carried out campaigns to spread awareness among voters. We reached out to 13 lakh voters during our 25-day campaign titled 'I Shall Vote.' We also involved school students in the initiative by asking them to write letters to their parents, urging them to cast their vote," said Narnavare. On voting day, however, the district was hit with a slight EVM glitch. "There are 2,170 polling booths in Palghar, out of which the EVMs of 50 booths faced glitches. But they were changed within 10 minutes, as all the zonal officials were given additional EVMs to tackle the crisis," said Narnavare.

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