Booth wheelchairs make voting easy for aged and differently abled in Tamil Nadu

COIMBATORE: Ninety-one-year-old Chinnammal Chinnasamy suffered a fall at home 20 days ago, an injury that had become infected since. However, the first thing she asked her grand-daughter on Monday was if she could be accompanied to the polling station. Chinnammal had refused to request for a postal ballot or give up her right to exercise her franchise.
The Election Commission’s decision to provide at least two wheelchairs in almost every polling station in the district, helped hundreds of men and women like Chinnammal enjoy a slightly more comfortable access to polling booths.
Braving the heavy crowd and confirming the availability of wheelchairs in her polling booth in Bishop Ambrose College in Alwin Nagar, Chinnammal's family brought her to vote at 12.45 pm. “My parents and I stood in the queue and cast our vote much earlier in the morning. We were hoping my grandmother would forget about voting, but since she insisted we confirmed there were wheelchairs available before taking her to the booth,” said her grand-daughter Nivenditha.
Unfortunately during Chinnammal’s arrival, the two wheelchairs in the booth were occupied. While her family helped her walk into the booth, the wheelchair arrived just after she cast her vote, to help her back into her car. “I have always cast my vote, because it is my duty,” she said.
In another incident at Ukkadam, 83-year-old Mahabuneesa, who has been bed-ridden for years was carried inside her polling booth by officials and family. The wheelchair helped her too. “We are born in this state. If we don’t vote, it does not mean anything,” she said, as she was being settled in the wheelchair.
In polling stations like Mani Higher Secondary School in Papanaickenpalayam, wheelchairs were used to ferry almost 50 people in a span of two hours in the morning. K Kittammal, a resident of the area, who was born with deformed legs, says she usually has to walk with a walker or move extremely slowly.
“In stations like this, where the booth is more than 150 feet away, walking would have been excruciating, but thankfully they have wheelchairs this year,” she said, remembering the difficulty she faced at the same station during the national assembly elections last time.