Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) is developing the India’s first sign language dictionary to bring the uniformity in sign languages used by hearing and speech impaired people across the nation.
This dictionary not only consisted of words but also contains the corresponding graphic representation of the signs which are used in daily life. Till now 6,032 Hindi and English words have been compiled. This dictionary is developed in both printed and video formats.
This dictionary helps in achieve the uniformity in the sign languages used by around 50 lakh hearing impaired people and 20 lakh speech impaired people in the country. The dictionary will include about 6,000 words in English and Hindi, including every day, legal, medical, technical and academic terms. Each word will be represented by an illustration and video.
Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot said at the inauguration of a two-day national conference titled 'Empowering Deaf through Indian Sign Language' that to improve the communication between the hearing and speech impaired we are in of Indian Sign Language Dictionary and create a basic database for further policy making. The sign languages in a diverse country like India vary from region to region. Because of this, people from a region face difficulty in communicating with those in the other region. This dictionary will help bridge the communication gap.
The joint secretary in the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Awanish K Awasthi said that the dictionary will contain graphic representations of popular signs used by the hearing impaired and will also include regional variations. It also will have legal, technical and medical terms.