The ‘walk’ to the polling booth for a family with dwarfism

Of the three members in the family with dwarfism, only two voted on April 19, as the third member with franchise did not feel up to the task of walking all the way to the polling booth in Manali.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 has been incomplete for this family with dwarfism from Thiruvottiyur. Of the three members in the family, only two voted on April 19, as the third member with franchise did not feel up to the task of walking all the way to the polling booth in Manali.

R. Gopinath lives with his wife Shakthi Kanimozhi and her sister Shakthi Surya. Gopinath was the first to exercise his vote and return home with feedback on the polling booth.

“There is a 100-metre distance from the drop-off point to the entrance of the school where the polling booth was located. Vehicles are not allowed beyond the “check post”, which is fine for me but not for my wife who is recovering after an operation that required plates to be placed inside her leg,” says 47-year-old Gopinath.

The school had provision for wheel chairs and also a ramp but nobody to help the differently-abled or those needing some assistance at the drop-off point. “I even gave this feedback to the polling staff but nothing could be done,” says Gopinath.

He is happy that the staff did not make him stand in the queue but the facilities at the booth have not changed much. A plea by an association representing people with dwarfism is provide a stool for them to stand on and vote.

“Thankfully the table where the EVM was placed was not too high for my comfort; I had to only stretch a little bit,” says Gopinath. The family has voted at this booth four times. There are visible improvements: earlier, the ramp was a makeshift, wooden one. Now, it is permanent,” he says.

Gopinath says he had raised concerns over other issues faced by people with dwarfism at polling booths in a meeting chaired by the election commissioner last month and wished these concerns were given greater priority.