Jeeja Ghosh has often been the centre of public attention in her role as a disability rights activist. In 2012, she was deplaned by a prominent airlines for being differently-abled; later, the Supreme Court ordered that the airlines pay her compensation.
People will soon see Ms. Ghosh in a new role speaking on the importance of enrolling into the voters’ list as the Election Commission (EC) is all set to make her its brand ambassador in West Bengal. Ms. Ghosh is currently a faculty member at Kolkata’s Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP).
“We have contacted her about a week back in this regard. Her work as a disability rights activists will definitely encourage differently-abled persons and people in general to enrol into the voters list,” an EC official told The Hindu .
The official said that the initiative is in keeping with the EC’s “accessible election” drive that aims to enrol many more differently-abled people as voters. He said the proposal has been sent to the Chief Election Commissioner for approval.
Ms. Ghosh said that she had agreed to the EC’s proposal and would do her best to raise awareness on the importance of getting enrolled into the voters’ list.
Video tutorials
The EC will also soon launch web tutorials to increase awareness among differently-abled people regarding the voters’ list. The video will be offered in Bengali, English and in sign language.
“So far we have prepared four videos of 15 minutes each,” the official said. He also said that the initiative was undertaken following large scale consultations with experts and activists working with differently-abled people. “The videos are likely to be officially launched within two weeks and will be available on the EC website and on YouTube,” he added.
