Dharmendra Pradhan Launches India’s First Sign Language DTH Channel

New Delhi: In a most welcome development for children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing, India’s first television channel in Indian sign language (ISL), Channel 31, was launched on Friday.

Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who did the honours along with Minister of State Jayant Singh, said it’s part of the PM-eVidya initiative.

Children with hearing-disability, special educators, ISL-certified interpreters and organisations working for people with hearing disability attended the launch event.

“The new DTH channel will disseminate learning content for school children (Central and state curriculum), teachers, teacher educators, and other stakeholders in areas such as career guidance, skill training, mental health, class wise curricular content, communication skills, as well as the promotion of sign language as a subject, just like verbal languages,” the Education ministry said in a statement.

Channel 31, to be run by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), will aim to ensure accessibility of news, learning, and entertainment for individuals with hearing disability. It’s in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which encourages promotion of ISL to create a more inclusive educational environment.

The NEP advocates ISL to be standardised across the country.

Highlighting the potential of ISL to create job opportunities, Pradhan urged stakeholders to promote Channel 31.

“India’s language ecosystem has a word bhav-bhangima (gesture). It is a sign language. Half of India’s music, sculptures, art, and expressions have sign language. We were not aware of it, and today we are learning about it,” Pradhan said.