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.

Taking the help of a sign language expert, Neha Rawat, The Pioneer interacted with Rajat Uniyal, a young man with hearing impairment. Gesticulating animatedly when asked about what people like him feel about the election, Uniyal said that even after more than 71 years of independence and development achieved by India in every field, it is very sad that the disabled are nowhere in  the picture with the country gearing up to elect a new government at the Centre.

“To provide political empowerment to the disabled, the government should provide some reservation to us in the legislature so that our mute voices are heard by the system,’’ he said.  Uniyal  further said that many with disabilities do not have disability voter card as it involves a lot of paper work.

He added that the hearing and physical aids and assisted living devices provided by the government are low on quality and efforts should be made to improve their standards.

His friend Vaibhav Jha who teaches at a special school nodded agreement and said that the society should be more empathetic for the disabled.

When asked about how they select candidates in the election, Vaibhav said that he discusses with his close family members about merits of the candidates left in the fray and then cast vote.

Arun Kumar, a visually handicapped person, said that the political parties should add the issues like providing job opportunities to the disabled in their manifestoes.

The principal of Bajaj Institute of Learning, Dehradun Dr Puneet Basur said that hearing and visually impaired people are endowed with many capabilities and it is for the society to make use of their abilities.

“They just  want love, respect and inclusive development’’ she added.

Arti Balodi who works in a school of hearing impaired said that for sustainable development, focused initiatives for the welfare of disabled persons are essential.

The census data of 2011 shows that in India there are about 2.68 crore disabled persons, the figure comprising  2.21 percent of the total population. 

According to the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, voters having one among the 21 disabilities are termed as voters with disabilities. 

There are an estimated 25,000 disabled voters.
Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/state-editions/---political-parties-deaf---blind-to-their-issues---.html