Open letter to Standing Committee of SJE HRD

Tuesday, 23 February 2010 00:00

I am writing to you from The Deaf Way Foundation which is an NGO that supports deaf youth and parents in a variety of ways. We are working in India to tackle the varied problems of the deaf community and also to enhance the opportunities available to the deaf, empowering them to lead happy productive lives, integrated into the mainstream of society. I would like to bring your attention to the provisions in the current 5 year Plan with regard to the disabled and particularly for the deaf. We were so pleased when the Planning Commission took a participatory approach to the creation of a special section of the 11th Five Year Plan for the disabled of India. The hopes and aspirations of India moving forward towards a disabled friendly state were further reinforced by the ratification of the UN convention on Rights of People with Disability in 2007. These were wonderful steps forward into an inclusive and caring society. We were so happy that the Planning Commission, the Cabinet, the Parliament and the PM passed the 11th Five Plan with a chapter on Disability issues for the first time since Independence. It was a dream come true. THERE IS STILL NO ACTION!!!!! NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE!!! The dream has turned to nightmare as we see progressive budgets not reflecting the stated policy of the Govt. the budget of 2008/2009 had no provision for disabled people in line with the 11th Five Year Plan provisions. We have no high schools, no colleges, no interpreters, no access to TV, no access to Govt services, (health care, police, and fire ambulance), not even implementation of past policies regarding reservation of 1% of Govt/PSU jobs. And what is worse, we have no champion in the political arena. We wish to ask for our dues as stated in the 11th 5 year Plan. A new job in the list of jobs entitled “Sign Language Interpreter” must be created. A training and research center for Sign Language under the ministry of HRD to be set up, giving Indian sign Language a quasi official status. Schools in all states to be upgraded to higher secondary, and one college per zone to cater to the deaf. A legislation be passed requiring all manufacturers of TVs to include closed caption decoders, (a device which all the TV manufacturers in India currently provide in export models) and all broadcasts by Indian and foreign channels to contain closed captions. The fundamental problem of the deaf is that of access to communication and information. We want nothing more than access to education, information and a right to live independent lives with dignity.