Hearing impaired people seek special schemes, welfare measures

Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC) here on Monday demanded to announce special welfare schemes for hearing and speech impaired people.  

Since hearing and speech impaired people were more in number in Tamil Nadu, the general reservation and other schemes disbursed for the differently abled people in general would not cover all of them, they said.  

Observing World Deaf Day by whistling and communicating through sign language, they said the State government should initiate steps to provide an additional 1% reservation for hearing impaired people in government jobs.  

Jeeva, State secretary, said the monthly assistance, akin to the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, should be increased to ₹6,000.  

“In important government offices, police stations, etc., sign language instructors should be appointed for making communication simpler for both the officials and the hearing-impaired people,” he added.  

All schools should have a sign language subject for students, he said. “In all government functions, a sign language instructor should be appointed to make the event reach even the deaf people,” he added.  

In almost all bus stands and few railway stations, the information of the departure and arrival of buses and trains were only announced through speakers but not displayed on digital boards, he added. For people who could not hear, getting the information about the buses was a Herculean task, Mr. Jeeva said.  

Those willing to apply to start business should be encouraged by the government and sanctioning of subsidies and loans should be expedited, he said.  

Published - September 30, 2024 08:45 pm IST