Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), New Delhi, an autonomous body under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment celebrated ‘Sign Language Day’ today at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar was the Chief Guest and Ministers of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Km. PratimaBhoumik and Shri A. Narayanswami were Guests of Honour in the programme. Smt. Anjali Bhawra, Secretary, DEPwD, Sh. Santosh Sarangi, Additional Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Dr. Prabodh Seth, Joint Secretary, DEPwD& Director, ISLRTC and Sh. V. Gopala Krishnan, General Secretary, All Indian Federation of Deaf also graced the occasion.
During the programme, the Centre presented a documentary on ‘Indian Sign Language Journey’. Winners of 4th Indian Sign Language Competition, 2021, a national level competition held for students with hearing disabilities, were announced. Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment interacted with 05 winners from various places of India to share their experience. As per the MoU signed between ISLRTC and NCERT for conversion of NCERT textbooks into Indian Sign Language, digital format of converted textbooks for Class I to V was launched during the programme.
Km. PratimaBhaumik, Minister of State, Social Justice and Empowerment, appreciated the work done by the Centre in various fields of Indian Sign Language. Sh. A. Narayanaswamy, Minister of State, Social Justice and Empowerment, highlighted the social significance of sign language as it integrates the deaf community socially as well as culturally.
Dr. Virendra Kumar, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, mentioned that Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) are an integral part of human resource and to provide them maximum accessibility is the utmost priority of the Government. Various decisions and policies of the Ministry have been framed to ensure the empowerment and welfare of PwDs. Continuous efforts are being made to ensure the empowerment and mainstreaming PwDs to achieve Prime Minister’s vision ‘SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, SabkaVishwas with SabkaPrayas’.