On the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Election Commission of India, felicitated the Indian Deaf Cricket Team, today at Nirvachan Sadan. Welcoming the team, CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar said that the Election Commission salutes the resilience and tenacity demonstrated by the players. The team has brought laurels to the country by winning the T20 Champions Trophy held in UAE by Deaf International Cricket Council. Sh Kumar said it’s important to accord due publicity and visibility to the winners. ECI will explore the possibility of sponsoring a match of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association team with mainstream cricket teams.

The Commission also organised a sensitization training workshop for officers of the Commission on ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ by Padma Shri awardee Dr. Niru Kumar, ECI National Icon to mark the International Day of PwDs.

Speaking on the occasion Sh Kumar said that ECI is committed to mainstream and deeply embed the concept and practice of accessibility in ensuring a new normal of enabling environment in the entire election process ecosystem from registration to voting.

Shri Kumar elaborated that with administrative and technological innovations ECI has developed a one stop solution in the form of an APP - Saksham App - for enabling and facilitating the PwDs from enrolment to poll day facilities. The PwD electors can avail various services provided by the ECI enabling their participation in the election process, thus making them Saksham. The App can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple store.

ECI has been implementing several measures to ensure accessible facilitation at the polling stations, making them conducive for Persons with Disabilities to cast their vote without any hassles. Notified checklist for provisions such as polling stations on ground floor, standardised ramps, wheelchairs, volunteers, EVM with braille and ballot paper, braille EPIC, accessible toilets, tactile signage, sign language interpreters and pick up drop facility are made available in polling stations. The Commission has also provided the option of postal ballot facility to PwDs with 40% benchmarked disability to vote from the comfort of their homes. 

The Commission has carried out milestone initiatives such as:

1. 1. Setting up of the National Advisory Committee on Accessible Elections.
   2. A module on sensitization of election personnel.
   3. Deploying Accessibility Observers during elections
   4. Appointing achievers with disabilities as election ambassadors/icons
   5. Developing awareness films on inclusive elections starring achievers with disabilities

The Commission is dedicated to the goal of inclusive and accessible elections and shall endeavour to increase the participation of PwDs in the electoral process for a truly representative and robust democracy. So far, over 83 lakhs electorate have been mapped as PwDs in the electoral roll across the country.

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RP