Niwara’s Elderly Ready to Cast Votes: 95 Voter ID Cards Issued, Including for Those Above 85 and Persons with Disabilities
Niwara's Elderly Ready to Cast Votes: 95 Voter ID Cards Issued, Including for Those Above 85 and Persons with Disabilities
A total of 95 voter ID cards have been issued, of which 10 are for those aged above 85 and 16 are for persons with disabilities. As many as 120 residents of Niwara, an old age home in Pune’s Navi Peth, aged between 65 and 91, are ready to go to the polling booths for this Lok Sabha elections.
Over the last month, Election Commission officers visited the premises and filled out voter registration forms for those who didn’t have one. A total of 95 voter ID cards have been issued, of which 10 are for those aged above 85 and 16 are for persons with disabilities.
As per Ravindra Marathe, Member of Niwara,”The Election Commission of India visited us 15 days ago and helped us with registration. They also gave a demonstration regarding how to use EDM machine and everyone has given the Election card to everyone. Moreover, this entire process was handled by Rajiv Natu, a member of Niwara.
We have been trying to get this done for many years now. But nobody was taking the responsibility and we didn’t want to approach any political party for help. But this time, the ECI sent a team and provided all the help that was needed. It shows that if one department genuinely understands the need, it can happen.
The voter ID cards were made based on documents like Aadhar card and a certificate from Niwara stating that they are residents at the old-age home.
But getting voter IDs made was only the beginning as some residents would be voting with EVM for the first time. Officers from ECI conducted demonstrations for around three- hours last month. It gave these people confidence that they can all vote at this age too and they are all very excited. The polling booth is hardly five minutes away. The ECI had offered to send a vehicle, but we will be arranging our own.
Some of the voters who got registered in this process are the ones who moved out of their hometown to come and stay at Niwara such as the Hanwadikar brother-sister duo.
