PRESENT STATUS OF SIGN LANGUAGE (ISL) IN INDIA
The National Curricular Framework (NCF) gave sign language education some legitimacy in 2005, implying that sign languages may qualify as an optional third language choice for hearing students. NCERT published a chapter on sign language in a class III textbook in March 2006, emphasising that it is a language like any other and “yet another mode of communication.” The goal was to foster positive attitudes toward the disabled.
Deaf communities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), researchers, and other organisations working for people with hearing disabilities, such as the All India Federation of the Deaf (AIFD) and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), have made significant efforts to promote ISL. There were no formal classes for teaching ISL in India until 2001.
During this time, an ISL cell was established at the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Hearing and the Handicapped (AYJNIHH) in Mumbai. It began a programme called “Diploma in India Sign Language Interpreter Course.” The course curriculum aims to develop professional communication in Sign language as well as the ability to interpret professionally. It also covered the fundamentals of the Deaf community and Deaf culture. Later, the course was made available in regional centres.
Aside from AYJNIHH, organisations such as the Mook Badhir Sangathan in Indore and others provide ISL classes. Many NGOs in India use ISL to teach English as well as other academic and vocational courses. Among these non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are ISHARA (Mumbai), Deaf Way Foundation (Delhi), Noida Deaf Society and Leadership Education Empowerment of the Deaf (LEED) (Pune), Speaking Hands Institute for the Deaf (Punjab), and others (Randhawa, 2014). The Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) and the Indian Sign Language Interpreters Association (ISLIA) were founded in 2006 and 2008, respectively, for the professional development of interpreters in India.
Two schools in India have been established to teach deaf students using a bilingual approach.The schools are Dehradun’s Bajaj Institute of Learning (BIL) and Indore’s Mook Badhir Sangathan. Aside from the establishment of organisations that serve Deaf people, there has been a surge in sign language research in India. Recent research developments include studies by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and University of Delhi research scholars such as Wallang, 2007; Sinha, 2003, 2008/2013; Hidam, 2010; and Kulsheshtra, 2013.
Aside from these, scholars have continued to work on linguistic aspects of ISL varieties (Zeshan and Panda 2011, Panda 2011, Panda 2012). The establishment of the ISLRTC is among the steps taken by the Government of India to promote sign language. However, the autonomy of the Research Center is currently a contentious issue that has yet to be resolved.