CHENNAI: The Election Commission of India has informed the Madras High Court that steps have been initiated to provide ramps at all polling stations across Tamil Nadu to enable persons with disabilities to cast their votes.

The submission was made in response to a writ petition filed by Vaishnavi Jayakumar, a disability rights activist, seeking a direction to ensure adequate accessibility measures, including ramps, at polling booths to facilitate easy access for disabled voters.

When the matter was heard by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, counsel for the ECI, submitted that necessary steps had been initiated to install ramps at all polling stations and that a detailed status report would be filed before the court. Counsel for the petitioner stressed the need for permanent ramps at polling stations to ensure long-term accessibility.

Recording the submissions, the Bench directed the ECI to file an affidavit detailing the measures undertaken to make polling stations accessible to persons with disabilities and adjourned the matter to next week.