Visually impaired voters for equal job opportunities

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 4

“Whoever wins and forms the next government should be able to address the important issues of unemployment in Punjab. There should be job opportunities for everyone, including the physically disabled,” said Vikram Singh, a first-time voter and a visually impaired student at the Institute of Blind in the city. About 35 visually impaired voters, four of them being first-timers, cast their votes today using the Punjabi Braille script ballot papers in the city.

Superintendent Hari Singh at the institute said the voting went on smoothly, as all the voters efficiently cast their votes. “They are familiar with the Punjabi Braille and so we did not have any problems of technical issues during voting. In fact, our first-time voters were very excited on being a part of the electoral process,” he said. Urging the successive government to work on drafting and implementing policies for welfare and employment generation among the physically disabled youth, the voters unanimously said that any progressive governance was not possible without all-inclusive development.

The Election Commission had provided 26,773 ballot papers in Punjabi Braille script, out of which a total of 1,900 papers were prepared for the Amritsar Lok Sabha byelection and 24,873 for the Vidhan Sabha elections.