the goan I network
PANAJI
Election Commissioner of India Ashok Lavasa, who was in Goa on Saturday to take stock of the ongoing summary revision of rolls and general preparedness before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, launched the ‘accessible election action plan’ for Goa on Saturday.
However, the disability sector in the State is upset as they claim that this was not done in consultation with them,
despite Election Commission officials holding a meeting with some stakeholders on December 27.
“The accessible election action plan was not discussed with us, despite a meeting held on December 27,” said Avelino De Sa, president of the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG).
“The Chief Electoral Officer of Goa has to take NGOs in the disability sector into confidence when working on accessible elections, if he wants our support,” he said.
The accessible election action plan has features like identifying barriers to accessible elections and finding solutions to them, creating a database of all the differently-abled, leveraging technology for accessible elections, identifying the roles of various partner departments and many others aspects. The action plan follows a strict timeline with deadlines. According to the accessible election action plan, the same will start being put into force from January 7 with the foremost task being the sensitisation of the PWD building department on accessibility of
government buildings.
Meanwhile, the disability sector is also upset that the Election Commission headquarters in the State is not accessible, with there being steps right at the entrance, before the conference hall, and the washroom.
De Sa lamented, “We are disappointed that the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Goa is still not accessible for the differently-abled. We hope that accessibility is taken more seriously.”
When contacted, Chief Electoral Officer for Goa, Kunal IAS, told ‘The Goan’, “The Public Works Department is on the job and we are hopeful that the office will be accessible before National Voters Day (January 25).”
Lavasa skirts Mandrem, Shiroda bypoll issue
PANAJI: Election Commissioner of India, Ashok Lavasa, skirted the issue of whether bypolls to two Assembly seats in Goa - Shiroda and Mandrem - will be held separately or simultaneously with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
On an official visit to the State, Lavasa who addressed the media on Saturday morning did not address the issue.
The two seats fell vacant after incumbent Congress legislators - Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte - quit their membership to switch loyalties. Both have since joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and are expected to fight the bypolls on the saffron party tickets when held.
