Many hurdles in implementing home voting scheme for elderly

NAGPUR: As the Election Commission unveiled its home voting scheme, promising increased accessibility and convenience for citizens above the age of 85, a contrasting reality emerged within the confines of old age homes in Nagpur where the residents were either unaware of the scheme or sought the benefit to be extended to voters above the age of 70.

TOI visited Matoshree Vridh Ashram at Adasa and spoke to its manager and caretaker Pradip Chandanbatwe. “The home voting scheme sounds really good, but we were not aware of it. We have people of all age groups, including those above 85 years of age, who cast their vote regularly and they would love to avail of the benefit.”

Chandev Gomkar (86), a resident of Matoshree, said, “I used to vote regularly when I stayed at Jaitala in Nagpur city. The new scheme should help because otherwise I will have to go to either Saoner or Kalmeshwar and then catch a bus to Nagpur.”

Eighty-three-year-old Satyanarayan Gogayan said, “The age limit of 85 and above (to avail of home voting scheme) should be extended. People aged 70 and above should be allowed to vote from home under the scheme.”

Gogayan has been living in the ashram for the last eight years. During the 2019 elections, when he was 79, Gogayan had to go to Khamla since his name was registered there. He said it wasn’t easy for him to change multiple buses to reach Nagpur city and cast his vote.

‘Soham’, an old age home in Nagpur, was established in 1940 mainly for war widows and retired nurses. Caretaker and manager Mohan Sarwate said, “The home voting scheme should get more publicity. We have elderly voters from Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune and other cities living here who are excited to have the experience of voting from the comfort of Soham.”

Raja Saptarshi (90) and Nilima Saptarshi (88), a couple living in ‘Soham’, shared their enthusiasm about participating in the elections this time. Nilima told TOI, “We had our names in the Malviya Nagar list and we used to vote there but later it was removed. We lost out voting IDs cards too, but we really want to vote and hence wish to have our names included in the voter list this time.”

Vikas Shende, manager and caretaker of Jeevan Ashray, was happy to hear about the scheme, however, he too emphasised on the need to publicise the home voting scheme and sought the benefit to be extended to people above the age of 70.