<p>Kailash Ghai, 74, took a long walk to the polling station, which is less than a kilometre away. His son, Deepak Ghai, accompanied his father who walked slowly with the help of a crutch. <br /><br /></p>.<p>When he reached the polling booth at a community hall in the JJ Colony, Pandav Nagar, in New Delhi constituency, he was patient enough to wait for 15 long minutes. Deepak said that his father has difficulty walking. <br /><br />“He doesn’t need a wheelchair. But I didn’t know that they have a wheelchair here,” he added. “Nobody has used the wheelchair since morning,” an attendant deputed on election duty said. <br /><br />The Delhi Election Commission in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the city adopted a disabled-friendly approach. <br /><br />In each polling station, a wheelchair and an attendant were available to help the disabled and elderly people to vote seamlessly. But many voters said that they were not aware about this initiative.<br /><br />Little space<br /><br />At some polling booths, bamboo poles meant to separate queues left little space for wheelchairs to make their way in. <br /><br />“This is happening for the first time. So there are some problems in execution,” an election officer at a polling station in Laxmi Nagar said. <br /><br />At many places, there were no placards to suggest that the EC has adopted a disabled-friendly approach. According to an estimate, there were more than 80,000 disabled voters in this election.<br /><br />Friendly experiences<br /><br />Twenty-six-year-old Sanjeev Kumar, who ekes out a living by driving an e-autorickshaw, had the first hassle-free voting experience. “The arrangements at the booth was such that I faced no difficulty. I was escorted in a wheelchair till the exit of the station,” said Kumar, who is differently-abled. <br /><br />Kumar voted in a booth in Angoori Bagh in Chandni Chowk constituency.<br /><br />At a booth in Hauz Quazi, 52-year-old Shaheda Begum said, “Every time I come to vote, I receive injuries because of the lack of ramp at booths. This is the only time there was good arrangement for the differently-abled.”</p>
<p>Kailash Ghai, 74, took a long walk to the polling station, which is less than a kilometre away. His son, Deepak Ghai, accompanied his father who walked slowly with the help of a crutch. <br /><br /></p>.<p>When he reached the polling booth at a community hall in the JJ Colony, Pandav Nagar, in New Delhi constituency, he was patient enough to wait for 15 long minutes. Deepak said that his father has difficulty walking. <br /><br />“He doesn’t need a wheelchair. But I didn’t know that they have a wheelchair here,” he added. “Nobody has used the wheelchair since morning,” an attendant deputed on election duty said. <br /><br />The Delhi Election Commission in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the city adopted a disabled-friendly approach. <br /><br />In each polling station, a wheelchair and an attendant were available to help the disabled and elderly people to vote seamlessly. But many voters said that they were not aware about this initiative.<br /><br />Little space<br /><br />At some polling booths, bamboo poles meant to separate queues left little space for wheelchairs to make their way in. <br /><br />“This is happening for the first time. So there are some problems in execution,” an election officer at a polling station in Laxmi Nagar said. <br /><br />At many places, there were no placards to suggest that the EC has adopted a disabled-friendly approach. According to an estimate, there were more than 80,000 disabled voters in this election.<br /><br />Friendly experiences<br /><br />Twenty-six-year-old Sanjeev Kumar, who ekes out a living by driving an e-autorickshaw, had the first hassle-free voting experience. “The arrangements at the booth was such that I faced no difficulty. I was escorted in a wheelchair till the exit of the station,” said Kumar, who is differently-abled. <br /><br />Kumar voted in a booth in Angoori Bagh in Chandni Chowk constituency.<br /><br />At a booth in Hauz Quazi, 52-year-old Shaheda Begum said, “Every time I come to vote, I receive injuries because of the lack of ramp at booths. This is the only time there was good arrangement for the differently-abled.”</p>