Information
Launch of Indian Sign Language Dictionary
Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLRTC)
Department of Empowerement of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India
on 23rd March 2018 at India International Cnetre, 40 Max Muellar, New Delhi
First Indian Sign Language Dictionary of 3000 words was launched by Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. The dictionary has been developed by Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLR&TC) under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), M/o Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister for State of Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Mukesh Jain, CEO, National Trust, Shri Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Shri Ramdas Athuwale, MoS JE, Smt. Shakuntala Doley Gamlin, Secretary, DWPwD, Smt. Dolly Chakraborty and Shri Zorin Daud Singha, Secretary, National Association of the Deaf.
Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot said that the basic aim of developing the ISL Dictionary is to remove communications barriers between the deaf and hearing communities as it is focused on providing more information in Indian sign language. Its aim is to give Deaf people the constitutional right to speech and opportunity of freedom of expression and also bringing them into the main stream of the society. He said that soon many new words will be added in this dictionary. The ISL dictionary has focused on providing more information in Indian Sign Language. He hoped that more and more people use this dictionary and get the benefit of learning Indian Sign Language.
The #FirstIndianSignLanguageDictionaryGoI with 3000 words is just a beginning of a long road, said by Smt. Shakuntala Doley Gamlin, Secretary, DEPwD.
ISLRTC is also going to start a new course called Diploma in Teaching Indian Sign Language (DTISL) from July after getting approval of RCI. The course is meant for Deaf individuals to teach sign language to interpreters and others: Smt. Dolly Chakrabarty, Joint Secretary, DEPwD
ISLR&TC has been working on its dream project of developing the Indian Sign Language Dictionary for last one and a half years. As per the census 2011, there are 50, 71,007 Deaf people and 19, 98,535 with speech disability in India. ISLRTC, New Delhi realized the gravity of the situation and issues being faced by the large number of Deaf people in common communication.
Therefore, ISLRTC has developed an ISL Dictionary for Deaf people and Hearing people, offering them the maximum words to learn and expressing their feelings, ideas etc. ISL dictionary consists of various categories of words for example legal terms, medical terms, academic terms, technical terms and daily use words. The videos are subtitled.
The English and Hindi terms for the dictionary will also help deaf children to learn English. The ISL dictionary consists of words of five categories:
- Everyday Terms - This category includes terms that are used in everyday communication. The videos contain the sign and the corresponding English term.
- Legal Terms - This category includes videos for 237 legal terms help explain complicated legal terminology like Affidavit, Acquittal, etc. That are used in various legal situations.
- Academic Terms - To help deaf children understand complex academic concepts, the academic dictionary contains explanations for terms like Nervous System, Rotation and Revolution, etc. The words are from various subjects like Physics, Geography, Biology, Maths, etc. This category contains 229 videos for 212 terms.
- Medical Terms - This category includes 200 sign videos for 200 medical terms will help the deaf community to better understand medical terminology used in hospitals and in medical situations.
- Technical Terms - This category has 206 videos of sign and explanations in ISL for 204 technical terms that are used in vocational training or in computer courses.