At least one booth in every Delhi constituency to be manned by differently-abled: CEO

New Delhi, To encourage inclusivity, Delhi will have at least one polling booth in each of the seven parliamentary constituencies that will be manned by persons with disabilities (PwD), officials said on Monday. Most of the polling stations in the national capital are disabled-friendly and necessary arrangements will be made so that the staffers are not inconvenienced, they added.

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Krishnamurthy told PTI that his team has identified polling booths in each of the constituencies that will have the entire staff comprising differently-abled people.

Following the EC's direction, we are working on having a booth manned by PwD in each of the seven parliamentary constituencies, Krishnamurthy said, adding that there will also be pink booths and model booths.


"Polling personnel from PwD community will be deployed at these booths based on their consent," he said.

"To start with, we will have one such booth in each constituency. Depending on the availability of manpower, we will increase the number of such booths," the CEO added.

Highlighting the various facilities that will be put in place so that the staffers are not inconvenienced, another official said most of the polling stations are disabled-friendly.

"Since most of the polling booths are inside schools, they are disabled-friendly with ramps and washrooms. We are assessing the facilities and in case we find anything to lack, we will make adequate arrangements. This move is aimed at encouraging inclusivity in the election process," the second official said.

In an interview to PTI last month, Krishnamurthy said 13,600 polling stations will be set up in the national capital and over one lakh personnel engaged for the Lok Sabha polls.

The senior IAS officer had also said all the districts have been directed to arrange pick-and-drop facilities for differently-abled and senior citizen voters.

Delhi will go to polls on May 25.