CEO Nagaland, Abhijit Sinha IAS addressing the Workshop on Mapping & Identification of PwDs Held on November 3 at Hotel Japfu, Kohima. (DIPR Photo)
Our Correspondent
Kohima | November 3
The office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Nagaland today organised a workshop on Mapping/Identification of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) for Electoral Process on the theme “Accessible Elections” for the Assistant Election Officers and Special Educators at Hotel Japfu here.
This workshop has been planned primarily for ensuring that the election officers at the ground level adequately drilled in properly and comprehensively identifying PwDs and thereafter ensuring their enrollment in the electoral roll, said Abhijit Sinha, CEO Nagaland.
He said that presently only about 2500 PwDs are identified in the E-rolls, which considering the population of the state is very low.
He said that there are various reasons for the low enrollment and one major reason would be apathy on the part of the election officials in taking the extra effort to reach out the PwDs. The other reason, he said, would be insufficient training to the BLOs in properly identifying the PwDs.
The CEO said that special educators under SSA School Education Department after getting properly trained would be conducting elaborate trainings at the district level for the BLOs and the BLOs would then be in a good position to carry out the work of identification and enrollment of PwDs.
29,631 differently abled persons in Nagaland
Dr Atha Vizol, Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Nagaland said that Nagaland has a total population of nearly 20 lakh people and according to the 2011 census there are 29,631 Differently Abled Persons/PwDs (DAP/PwDs) in the state.
He informed that Nagaland Parents Association for Disabled is the State Nodal Agency Centre (SNAC) for Nagaland under the National Trust, an NGO working under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, besides other NGOs and inclusive schools and institutions working for the welfare of PwD/DAP.
Dr. Atha lamented that Nagaland though a Christian state has wrongly conceived that PwD/DAP is a “curse from God while many have the misconception that disability is a result of some terrible things that ancestors had committed or even that it is a “result of sins committed by the parents.”
He said that because of such wrong thinking parents of the disabled are often filled with shame and guilt, which leads to isolation, stigma and discrimination of the PwD/DAP.
‘No voter to be left behind’
Disability rights activist and state icon (PwDs) Diethono Nakhro in her speech said all citizens of India over the age of 18 have a right to vote including people who live with disabilities.
“However, historically and even in the present, persons with disabilities worldwide have been excluded from exercising this right to political participation. The reason for this is due to the many barriers they face – starting from getting enrolled in the voter list to the barriers they encounter on voting day. They also face stigma and discrimination from society which prevents them from taking part in the electoral process,” she said.
In India, she said, the Election Commission of India has made inclusion of Persons with disabilities in the electoral process a priority under the slogan ‘No voter to be left behind’.
The Commission has developed a strategic plan focused on removal of barriers; motivating, facilitating and enhancing participation by People with Disabilities, she said.
She said first step towards enhancement of participation of People with Disabilities in the electoral process is enrolment.
“To improve enrolment, better understanding of the various kinds of disabilities is important in order to identify voters with disability,” she said.
She said that many people are still reluctant to admit disability due to the stigma they face and a false sense of shame.
“Be patient and try to explain the importance of registering people with disabilities – i.e. if the number of voters with disabilities increase then elected officials will also pay more attention to their needs and welfare,” he explained in tips for enrolment.
Apart from house visits, she said churches can also be a big help, for which one need to talk to church leaders and explain to them the campaign to include persons with disability in the electoral roll.
Most people with disability may not have a disability certificate. This should not stop them from getting registered as a voter with disability. BLOs need to talk to families, ask the right questions with sensitivity and identify any person with disability, she said.
