GUWAHATI, March 28 - Chief Electoral Officer, Assam, Mukesh Sahu launched �Enajori�, an initiative to make the Lok Sabha Election 2019 accessible for persons with disabilities (PwD), at the Janata Bhawan here today.
CEO Sahu launched the initiative through a video conference in the presence all additional deputy commissioners, district officials of social welfare department, district managers of common service centres (CSC)s and officers of SVEEP (systematic voters� education and electoral participation.)
�Enajori� is a joint initiative of CEO Assam and social welfare department with an objective to make the Lok Sabha Election 2019 accessible for PwD voters, the spirit of which finds an encouraging place in the Constitution of India under Article 326.
Section 11 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 states that the Election Commission of India and State Election Commissions shall ensure that all polling stations are accessible to persons with disabilities and all materials related to the electoral process are easily understandable by and accessible to them.
In the light of these provisions and guidelines, �Enajori� has been brought out by CEO Assam to help PwD voters.
Under the initiative, the social welfare department will entrust field officials under the leadership of district disability coordinator and district social welfare officer to conduct comprehensive mapping of PwDs in consultation with booth-level officers, �Chandraprabha Baideus� and �Divyang Sarothis� to facilitate a barrier-free and inclusive accessible election for these voters. Mapping includes moral boost, escort during poll day, counselling, ethical and informed voting.
Under �Enajori�, sensitisation programmes will be conducted by the social welfare department to make the PwD voters aware of the Braille system. A special initiative will be undertaken to make Braille voter slips and Braille ballot paper to facilitate blind voters.
The district transport nodal officer will be notified for better conveyance of PwD voters to the polling station.
