With April 24 V-Day, which is Vote Day just around the corner, physically-challenged citizens of the island city are all set to defy the odds and vote.

AID AT HAND: Disabled people will be given a helping hand by polling booth officials. PIC/Shahdab Khan

Climbing trouble
Shahbaz Alam,  a Mankhurd resident who uses crutches to walk will be making sure that his vote counts. Alam says, “I believe that we all need to vote. But for me getting to my election booth is a real struggle.” In the past few elections, Alam has always got a booth that is on the first floor. He says,  “It takes me a long time to climb the stairs. At rush hours I have been pushed around, so I cast my ballot at odd hours — around 2 pm or late in the evening, before voting ends. Once I asked if I could vote on the ground floor but the election people said that I had to vote only in my booth.”  For Santosh Kharat from Chembur, a polio patient, a ground-floor booth is preferable. He says, “I always like to go to the booth at a less crowded hour. Once I got a first floor booth and reached there with great difficulty.” For both Alam and Kharat their disability is not an excuse.