PUNE: To make Assembly polling booths accessible, the Election Commission (EC) will see that a maximum number of polling stations are on the ground floor.
In Pune district, there are a total of 7,915 polling stations. Excluding 134 polling stations which will be equipped with lifts, others will be on the ground floor.
“During Lok Sabha elections, there were 1,011 polling stations which were on the first and second floor. During the Assembly elections, there will be only 134 polling stations on the first and second floors. Of these, 110 stations will be on the first floor while 24 will be on the second floor. All of them are equipped with lifts,” said Deputy District Election Officer Mrinalini Sawant.
Also, as many as 283 temporary sheds have been created by the Election Commission to bring the polling stations on the ground floor and make them accessible.
“The Election Commission is focused to make this election accessible for all. There are Persons With Disability (PWD) voters and also senior citizens. They do face problems if the polling stations are on the first or second floor. Therefore, to facilitate them we tried to bring most of the stations on the ground floors. However, as per Election Commission guidelines, where there is availability of lifts, the stations remained on upper storeys,” added Sawant.
