By IANS,
New Delhi : A sign language training centre – first of its kind in India – for the deaf, and a Sindhi language and cultural centre were Tuesday inaugurated by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an official said.
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik and Human Resource Development and Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal inaugurated the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) and the Centre for Sindhi Language and Culture (CSLC).
“The approach to understanding 30 lakh hearing-impaired population is very limited. We not only require enough trainers in this field but interpreters too play a key role in the process,” said Wasnik.
“This centre is a first-of-its-kind in India offering full time teaching combined with distance learning for short-term and full-fledged programmes,” he added.
The ISLRTC will be established at an estimated cost of Rs.44 crore over five years. However, the classes will begin Oct 15 in a temporary building in IGNOU’s campus.
A committee, consisting of representatives of national-level organisations of the deaf, will be responsible for planning and managing it.
The CSLC will begin its session January 2012 and would offer various programmes including certificate courses for reading, writing and speaking the language, diploma and advanced diploma among others.
“Among the modern Indian languages, Sindhi is the only language which is stateless,” said Sibal.