General

Want our votes? Reflect our needs - Disability rights groups tell national level parties

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s move to dedicate a section of its
election manifesto to the disabled community has thrown the spotlight on the
two main contenders in the national - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
the Congress Party.

Neither the BJP nor the Congress have released their manifestos, but the
CPI(M)'s move has led to more voices calling upon them to reflect the needs
of India's disabled population.

CHARTER OF DEMANDS

Visually impaired man humiliated at poll training centre

CHENNAI: A visually impaired assistant professor of a government college in the city faces the possibility of disciplinary action for not attending a training session on election-related work.

K Raghuraman from Nandanam Government Arts and Science College had reached the training centre in Villvakkam on March 24, but had to leave as there were no accessible features or proper assistance for him at the centre. Despite his requestion for exemption, he was asked to attend the training session for polling booth presiding officers.

40 visually impaired trained to vote

PANAJI: Forty visually impaired voters, including 24 blind persons, from Sattari, Bicholim, Bardez, Tiswadi, Pernem and Priol attended a training and awareness programme on the election process.

Inside Delhi’s schools for the blind

As his board exams neared, Anshu Kumar Shakya, a class 12 student, felt unusually stressed and anxious. Pretty common among students, one would say. But his worries were entirely different. Shakya is bright, but he cannot see and needed a scribe to write his exams. His performance, he knew, depended not just on how hard he studied but also how well his answers were transcribed by his scribe.

Makerspaces in schools: Gurgaon students develop smart devices to enable visually impaired

Marks and grades may still be the norm in many schools across India, but some schools are doing things differently. At Heritage Xperiential Learning School in Gurgaon, students are encouraged to develop their design and lateral thinking skills, and create devices that can bring about societal change.

‘Political parties deaf & blind to their issues’

Amid the plethora of issues being raised by the political parties as the campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls is assuming a feverish pitch, the people with visual and hearing impairments rue that every political party has turned a blind eye to their issues. The absence of the issues related with the rights of the disabled, job opportunities for them and providing a respectable position in the society irks most of the disabled.

When voice takes the lead in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gokul S, an MA Literature student of Mar Ivanios College, Nalanchira has been participating and winning prizes in the Kerala University Youth Festival for the past five years. Despite the fact that he is visually impaired, Gokul made sure that his voice is heard thereby participating in election and debate competitions.

A batsman’s success story in thirteen chapters

CHENNAI: Chennai holds a special place in former West Indies cricket captain and legendary batsman Alvin Kallicharran’s heart as his mother Padma was born here. Each visit is a celebration, and he was here on Monday for the pre-launch of his upcoming book Colour Blind. The event was held at Amir Mahal where he spoke about cricket and the book.

Over 15,000 voters’ slip in Braille for visually impaired

At least 15,831 voters’ slips are being prepared in the Braille script for visually impaired voters in Jharkhand. Besides, Dummy Ballet Sheet and Voters Guide are also being printed in Braille for visually impaired voters in all the districts, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Manish Ranjan said on Saturday.

“These dummy ballet sheets will be made available in every polling station,” he said.

The visually impaired voters coming to the polling station will be informed about the process of voting through this dummy ballet sheet, so they can use their vote well.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Visually impaired for poll duty in Tamil Nadu, a mistake?

CHENNAI: Government staff with visual impairment appointed for election duty were turned away from training programmes as the officials allegedly claimed their appointment was a ‘mistake’.