Special arrangements for visually challenged voters ahead of Nov 11 Jubilee Hills by-election

In Jubilee Hills’ Pratibha Nagar, visually challenged voters will exercise their franchise through Braille ballots and home voting for the November 11 by-election. GHMC ensures accessible polling booths, ramps, wheelchairs, and ECI-compliant voter information slips for PWD participation

Hyderabad: This small residential area in Jubilee Hills assembly constituency is unique for a large number of voters for whom the election officials make special arrangements.

Once known as ‘Guddolla Basthi’, given the high number of voters with visual challenges, the colony in Boarabanda ward has the GHMC election duty officials visiting door-to-door and taking declarations to avail the ‘Home Voting’ facility for the bye-election slated on November 11.

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There were around 270 electors who were visually challenged till 2010 in the area, which has since then been renamed as Pratibha Nagar. When he was Chief Minister, NT Rama Rao had allotted house site pattas to these families. Of those 270, the colony presently has 30 voters, with others having dispersed to other parts of the state over the years.

According to the locals, these voters have always participated and actively voted in every election and special arrangements are made for them to exercise their franchise. Now, they will be voting through Braille ballots and an enhanced home voting facility.

“All 270 of us used to participate in every election, actively and utilise our voting right with the support of poll personnel,” recalls U Pochaiah, who has been living here for the past four decades. His two children have shifted to another area after their marriages, but Pochaiah continues to live in this colony along with his spouse, Padmavathi, who is also visually challenged.

Meanwhile, the GHMC is providing facilities, including setting up polling booths for accessibility, building ramps to walk into the polling booths, wheelchair arrangements, ensuring that cables of EVMs or other loose wires do not obstruct the way to the voting compartment, and ensuring the table in the voting compartment on which the ballot unit is placed is between 2.5 to 3 feet high.

To ensure ease of participation and active engagement of PWD voters in the electoral process, the ECI has directed the issuance of Accessible Voter Information Slips (AVIS) with Braille features to persons with visual challenges, along with Normal Voter Information Slips (NVIS).