57 Leprosy Patients Vote for First Time in Jharkhand's Jamtara

Jamtara: The distant dream of exercising their franchise turned into a reality for 57 leprosy patients on Wednesday, as they cast votes at a dedicated booth in the second and final phase of the Jharkhand assembly elections. In a heartwarming moment, they queued up to participate in the democratic exercise at the special booth in the Snehpur Community Building in Mihijam, the booth was decorated with vibrant confetti and had arrangements of refreshments for them.

All of them were filled with hope and anticipation that the new government would work for their welfare.

Tinku Pandit (36), a leprosy patient, from Snehpur leprosy colony in Jharkhand’s Jamtara district exercised his right to vote for the first time, hoping for an improvement in lives of the downtrodden section in the society.

Pandit cast his vote at a dedicated booth (no-362), set up for 57 people afflicted with leprosy in the colony, at Snehpur Community Building in Mihijam.

"This is the first time the district administration set up a dedicated booth for us here. I also cast my vote for the first time. I hope my vote will help form a constructive government, which will take care of us. Despite being affected by leprosy, I am still deprived of a pension," Pandit told PTI.

He said they demand that the government give them a concrete house with facilities like drinking water and electricity.

Booth Level Officer Ujjwal Kumar Mahto said that all 57 registered voters from the colony exercised their franchises at the dedicated model booth, which was set up near the Snehpur leprosy colony in Mihijam.

"There were 31 male and 26 female voters. This was for the first time when a dedicated model booth was set up for them under the ‘no voter to be left behind’ motto of the Election Commission," he told PTI.

Another voter from the leprosy colony Subhash Patnaik (51) said the booth was beautifully decorated with balloons and confetti.

"We have also been served food at the booth. It was a great day for the voters of the colony," he said.

"Many facilities are being provided to the residents of the colony by the government. We want an arrangement for the dressing of the leprosy patients at the colony," Patnaik said and added that he was not affected by leprosy but his father was a leprosy patient.

He said earlier booths used to be set up around 500 meters away from the colony but very few could stand in the queue of 700-800 voters.

Twenty-year-old Pinki Kumari from the colony also exercised her vote for the first time.

"I am happy to cast my vote for the first time. I want an improvement in the education system," she said.

The booth in-charge Vijay Kumar said that the polling station was developed as a model booth and it was decorated with balloons and all basic facilities such as a ramp, wheelchair and drinking water have been ensured for them.

"We made arrangements for breakfast and lunch, in a bid to bring them to the polling station. A medical team was also deployed at the booth. These were the reasons we achieved 100 per cent polling at the booth," Kumar said.

He added that election officials approached the people afflicted with leprosy and motivated them to exercise their franchise.

Kumar, who is also the city manager under the Mihijam council, said that a 64-unit building is proposed for the leprosy colony people.

"Tender in this regard has been floated and the process for construction of the building will be initiated soon. A community toilet and tubewell have been provided in the colony recently," he said.

The booth falls under the Jamtara assembly constituency, which is among the 38 seats where the second and final round of the elections is underway on Wednesday.