As a young student in
1969, Zorin Singha, now the president of the National Association of the
Deaf, dreamt had dreams of becoming a pilot. Due to the lack of sign
language interpreters and professionals in schools, Singha dropped out
in class 10th, letting go of all those aspirations.
Many deaf persons have taken had to take the same course due to the same reason. But their prospects seemed to change in 2011; when the ministry of social justice and empowerment entrusted asked the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) the responsibility of establishing an autonomous Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC). It which would help at least 2500 deaf persons opt in opting for further studies. About Close to two years have passed and except for "laying of the foundation stone" and "appointment of staff" there is hardly any progress on the setting up of the center.
Taking note of the project which is lying in limbo, the department of disability affairs wrote to the Vice Chancellor of Ignou and director of ISLRTC earlier this month. But the project seems to be stuck in an internal matter of the university, leaving thousands of deaf persons in the lurch.
The Vice Chancellor of the University Professor M Aslam says that they are in touch with the ministry on the matter. "We are looking into the contents of the letter and trying to figure out till what extent we can address them their issues," he said. professor Aslam.
Interestingly, Officials in the University officials say that the delay is due to resistance from certain sections in the institution. "The agenda for the center that was sent to the Board of Management has been turned down by the present VC," said director ISLRTC, Professor PR Ramanujam. "There is no support from the finance and general administration on the project," Ramanujam further adds. Miffed over the delay activists working for disabled issues want that the ministry to take back the project from Ignou.
"From the very beginning we wanted the centre to be autonomous. We feared had our fears that giving the responsibility of the establishment of the centre to a University will cause delays," said Javed Abidi, convener Disability Rights Group.
"We now want that the ministry to should take back the project from Ignou," Abidi further
added. In fact Abidi and Singha say that the letter to the University by secretary of the department of disability affairs comes after repeated communication with authorities.
"We wrote one letter on March 4th to the secretary of the department and another on April 10th to minister minister Shelja Kumari," said secretary of NAD AS Narayan.
In 2011, the ministry in its order had had asked Ignou to set up the centre on trial on project basis for five years basis. The total cost of the project was Rs 44 crore and required Ignou to provide five acres of land for the construction of the building.
Many deaf persons have taken had to take the same course due to the same reason. But their prospects seemed to change in 2011; when the ministry of social justice and empowerment entrusted asked the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) the responsibility of establishing an autonomous Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC). It which would help at least 2500 deaf persons opt in opting for further studies. About Close to two years have passed and except for "laying of the foundation stone" and "appointment of staff" there is hardly any progress on the setting up of the center.
Taking note of the project which is lying in limbo, the department of disability affairs wrote to the Vice Chancellor of Ignou and director of ISLRTC earlier this month. But the project seems to be stuck in an internal matter of the university, leaving thousands of deaf persons in the lurch.
The Vice Chancellor of the University Professor M Aslam says that they are in touch with the ministry on the matter. "We are looking into the contents of the letter and trying to figure out till what extent we can address them their issues," he said. professor Aslam.
Interestingly, Officials in the University officials say that the delay is due to resistance from certain sections in the institution. "The agenda for the center that was sent to the Board of Management has been turned down by the present VC," said director ISLRTC, Professor PR Ramanujam. "There is no support from the finance and general administration on the project," Ramanujam further adds. Miffed over the delay activists working for disabled issues want that the ministry to take back the project from Ignou.
"From the very beginning we wanted the centre to be autonomous. We feared had our fears that giving the responsibility of the establishment of the centre to a University will cause delays," said Javed Abidi, convener Disability Rights Group.
"We now want that the ministry to should take back the project from Ignou," Abidi further
added. In fact Abidi and Singha say that the letter to the University by secretary of the department of disability affairs comes after repeated communication with authorities.
"We wrote one letter on March 4th to the secretary of the department and another on April 10th to minister minister Shelja Kumari," said secretary of NAD AS Narayan.
In 2011, the ministry in its order had had asked Ignou to set up the centre on trial on project basis for five years basis. The total cost of the project was Rs 44 crore and required Ignou to provide five acres of land for the construction of the building.
Source : T.O.I , New Delhi ( 27th April 2013 )
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