HC for sign language interpretors in govt offices to help deaf

Updated on: Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to conduct a survey of various government offices to ascertain the number of sign language interpretors required to help hearing-impaired citizens communicate with officials to access various public services.

Directing the government to conclude the survey within three months, a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also asked it to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate the exercise.

The bench gave the order on a plea for appointment of sign language interpretors at various government offices to help hearing-impaired people in communicating with officials whom they approach to access various public services in various fields like education, health, transport and communication.

"Respondent (Centre) to undertake a study/assessment/survey of the public buildings, hospitals, places of amusement and entertainment, facilities like airports, railway stations, bus stops and other places requiring availability of sign language interpretors," the bench said.

The survey would also assess for each particular organisation if the sign language interpretors should be formally appointed or they should be empanelled with them to be available at short notice or with prior appointment, it said.

Directing appointment of nodal officer for survey within four weeks, the court said the nodal officers would write to various ministries to ascertain the number of interpretors, required by them and would prepare a report and send it to various ministries for creation of posts for sign language interpretors.

"Once the posts have been created, attempts be made to fill the same immediately," the bench said. The bench also asked the government to start consulting within 12 weeks with the University Grants Commission (UGC) and other Central and State universities for establishment/creation of courses for such interpretors and to devise a curriculum thereof.

The petition had sought appointment of sign language interpretors at various government offices pointing out that India has approximately 63 million hearing-impaired people with at least 10 to 25 million out of them using sign language.

It had argued that posts of sign language interpretors need to be created in government offices so that the same become part of the establishment and also lead to the growth of profession of sign language interpretors.

HC for sign language interpretors in govt offices to help deaf

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