Election Commission forms panels to improve communication

THE ELECTION Commission of India has recently set up two sub-committees to study ways to improve accessibility features of its websites, apps and other communications, and to make registration of persons with disabilities as electors easier.

The two sub-committees comprising election officials and representatives of disability rights groups were formed under the poll panel’s National Advisory Committee on Accessible Elections (NACAE) as per the recommendations of the committee during its November 24 meeting. The minutes of the meeting, which were circulated Friday, said the sub-committees would submit their reports to the EC’s special officer for Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) and NACAE chairperson Ranbir Singh by December 31. Singh would then place the reports before the commission for “perusal”.

The sub-committee on accessible communication, headed by Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta, would give recommendations on improving accessibility features for EC’s apps, websites, SVEEP content, application forms and all other documents used for registration, the minutes said. The panel is also tasked with assessing the communication requirements of differently-abled voters and giving a comprehensive framework for accessible communication.

The second sub-committee, chaired by West Bengal CEO Aariz Aftab, would study the inclusion of assistance-dependent persons with disabilities and the registration process for them as electors. The panel would study all the barriers before differently-abled persons covered under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.