A Welcome Step! Tripura To Have Disabled-Friendly Polling Stations

The state government of Tripura is planning an inclusive move of transforming all its polling stations into divyangjan-friendly polling stations, thereby urging the Election Commission of India (ECI) to lay particular emphasis on voting rights of specially-abled people. The Chief Secretary of the State, Alok Kumar, addressed the National Voters' Day event at the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan here in Agartala. He requested the CEO's office to ensure that all the polling stations in the state have been transformed into divyangjan-friendly polling stations ahead of assembly elections in 2023.

Emphasizing The Need For Better Resources

The Chief Secretary said, "Chief Electoral Officer's office of Tripura government has taken cognizance of the new facilities amalgamated to confirm the voting rights of challenged people. Accordingly, many schools marked as polling stations have been made friendly for specially-abled persons", North East Today reported. He further said that the government should take up necessary reforms to upgrade all the polling stations. While emphasizing the need for better resources, Kumar noted that improved resources are essential to solving the problem.

Importance Of Youth Participation In Polling Procedure

Kumar laid special emphasis on the importance of youth participation in the polling procedure because they need to decide who would be responsible for the kind of governance, political structure and desired policy for the betterment of the society. He added that the youth would live much longer than the aged citizens; therefore, their role in the entire process is more significant.

The ECI had felt the need of conducting special drives to include the youth or first-time voters into the polling system. Therefore, such campaigns were conducted across the state, and nearly 41,000 new voters were added to the electoral rolls.

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