All roads in Chandigarh and its neighbouring satellite townships, Panchkula, Zirakpur and Mohali, led to the historic Zakir Rose Garden, Sector 16, Chandigarh, with visitors in droves flocking to be a part of the annual Rose Festival. The 3-day mega event on day two, being a holiday on account of Shivratri, witnessed an unprecedented rush, apparently due to certain add-ons this season like the light and sound show introduced for the first time.
Though the mega event was marked by stellar flower decorations of exotic varieties of roses and other fascinating floral showcase, food court, camel rides, display of weaponry, among others, the cynosure of all eyes was the Deaf Hunar Textbooks stall from the state of Haryana, which won hearts of visitors for more reasons than one.
In an informal chat with CityWoofer, Pallavi representing Haryana Welfare Society for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment (HWSPSHI), headquartered at Panchkula, says, “The announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make teaching of Indian Sign Language as a language subject synchronising with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, has given a reason to rejoice for the vast majority of those battling hearing impairment in the country. The initiative has come as a big boost to spread awareness about the Indian Sign Language (ISL) in the country”.
Shedding more light on these books, Pallavi says these books are unique with the ISBN numbers, QR codes with signed version for reference, adding that these textbooks are copyright protected, printed copies of which are available with HWSPSHI.
She further adds that the books have been conceptualised and created by an expert textbook development team of certified ISL teachers of repute and subject experts with years of experience to credit. She is quick to add that the graphics for these textbooks had been designed by ace designer Himanshu Kansal, who is deaf by birth.
“We hope these ISL textbooks can be of hands-on use making the initiative a dream-come-true for the deaf community comprising more than 50 lakh people across the country,” she says enthusiastically.
She is hopeful that ISL would prove to be a boon for teaching as a language subject in all schools for the deaf in the country. “The flagship initiative would not only enhance and open up employment avenues for ISL teachers in schools and colleges, but would also help empower the deaf teachers, thus contributing to the inclusive growth of the country”, she signs off with a beam of optimism writ large on her face.
More about HWSPSHI
Sharing details of the founding of the society, Jyoti, another senior member of the faculty, says the Haryana Welfare Society for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment (HWSPSHI), was established in 1971 and is one of the oldest organization in the country working tirelessly for the early intervention, education, accessibility, RCI approved teacher training (D.Ed. HI & DTISL), skill training, counselling, digital sign language lab (SIGN LIBRARY), ISL club and creating ISL books for children with hearing impairment and facilitating their holistic growth.
HWSPSHI has developed Indian Sign Language (ISL) books from foundation level to Class VIII. The Haryana Governor is the president of the Society and the chief minister is its vice-president.
The Society has eight centres across the state, one each at Gurugram, Hisar, Sirsa, Karnal, Sonepat, Nagina (Mewat), Raipur Rani and Panchkula, working in tandem with district administration, state government, CSR partners and local community towards making education accessible to the deaf students across the farthest corners of Haryana.
Dr Taranjit Kaur, who is the driving force behind this great humanitarian effort, is the vice-president and chairperson of the Society, with the Deputy Commissioner as ex-officio Chairman of the centre.
An ecstatic Dr Taranjit Kaur says with oodles of optimism, “The organization and, of course, our tireless staff, students and CSR partners together have won as many as 24 coveted state awards in the past four years, besides three national awards for empowerment for persons with disabilities including the ‘Best Employer’ award for the year 2020”.
