the goan I network
PANAJI
For the first time in Panaji, wheelchair-bound voters as well as the elderly will be provided with free accessible transport from their homes to their respective polling stations on April 23, voting day.
The transport will be provided by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in collaboration with EzyMov, India’s first wheel-chair accessible taxi service, that was launched in Goa recently. The booth-level officers already have a list of persons with disability ready, and around
17 voters with orthopaedic
disability have been
identified.
“They will be provided with this service,” said Avelino De Sa, president of the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) who has been coordinating the move.
Further, if any elderly persons are also in need of the same, they can contact their respective booth level officers or DRAG.
The facility has been provided by the office of the CEO, Goa as part of accessible Lok Sabha elections 2019. The facility is being provided to enable all voters to travel to the polling station and cast their vote so as to ensure that no one is left behind, as each vote matters, states a press release by DRAG.
Wheelchair accessible transport for the elections will also be used in Goa for the first time due to the availability of EzyMov vehicle.
Bennett D’Cunha, founder of EzyMov said, “We at Ezy Mov are extremely pleased to offer our wheelchair taxi service on election day for our differently-abled brethren. I’m sure this facility will encourage them to exercise their franchise as responsible and equal citizens of the country.”
