Deaf may get licence to drive soon

The hearing impaired may get permission to drive in the country, the government told the Delhi high court on Monday. "We are considering issuing driving licences to hearing impaired people and thinking of amending our rules and regulations under the Motor Vehicles Act," additional solicitor-general AS Chandiok told the court.
Chief justice Ajit Prakash Shah and justice S Muralidhar allowed the Centre to take three months to come out with a proposal for and the modalities of the amendment. The Act prohibits the hearing impaired from obtaining a driver's licence as they could be a source of danger to the public.
There are about 50 million hearing impaired people in India. The judges were hearing a public interest petition by the National Association of the Deaf (Nad) seeking a direction to quash the requirement of having 'no hearing impairment' for the issuance of a driving licence.
Nad said the deaf are not allowed to drive in only 26 countries, including India."The only reason why India is not willing to issue licences is that Indian vehicles lack the special gadgets that vehicles in other countries have. But we are considering the same and hoping that we will be able to amend some rules," Chandiok said.
Medical experts say those who can hear up to 60 decibels with a hearing aid can be permitted to hold a driving licence for private vehicles, while those with a hearing level of up to 40 decibels with a hearing aid can be allowed to drive commercial vehicles.
Nad says even the Delhi Police website indicates that deaf people can drive: "There is no reason why a deaf person cannot drive a private motorcar. However, the possibility of additional rear vision mirrors may need to be considered."
This news is issued by DNA Delhi.

India's deaf may get licence to drive

India is one of the few countries in the world where the hearing impaired are not allowed to drive. But this may change soon, with the government informing the Delhi High Court it is considering changing its rules.
“We are considering issuing driving licences to hearing impaired people and thinking of amending our rules and regulations,” Additional Solicitor General A.S. Chandiok informed a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar.
The court has granted the government three months’ time to take a decision and posted the matter for Dec 16.
At present, the Motor Vehicles Act prohibits the deaf from obtaining a driver’s licence on the ground that they could be a source of danger to the public. There are around 50 million hearing impaired in India.
The court was hearing a public interest petition by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), seeking a direction to quash the requirement of having no hearing impairment for the issuance of a driving licence.
According to the NAD, the deaf are allowed to drive all over the world except in 26 countries including India.
“The only reason why India is not willing to issue licences is that Indian vehicles lack the special gadgets that other countries’ vehicles have. But we are considering the same and hoping that we will be able to amend some rules,” Chandiok informed the bench.
According to medical experts, those who can hear up to 60 decibels with the use of a hearing aid can be permitted to hold a driving licence for private vehicles, while those with a hearing level of up to 40 decibels with hearing aid can be allowed to drive commercial vehicles.
According to the petitioner, even the Delhi Police website indicates that deaf people can drive and states, “There is no reason why a deaf person cannot drive a private motorcar. However, the possibility of additional rear vision mirrors may need to be considered.”
(Kanu Sarda can be contacted at kanu.s@ians.in)

Deaf may get Motor Licence soon

NEW DELHI: India is one of the few countries in the world where the hearing impaired are not allowed to drive. But this may change soon, with the government informing the Delhi High Court it is considering changing its rules. "We are considering issuing driving licences to hearing impaired people and thinking of amending our rules and regulations," Additional Solicitor General A.S. Chandiok informed a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar. The court has granted the government three months' time to take a decision and posted the matter for Dec 16. At present, the Motor Vehicles Act prohibits the deaf from obtaining a driver's licence on the ground that they could be a source of danger to the public. There are around 50 million hearing impaired in India. The court was hearing a public interest petition by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), seeking a direction to quash the requirement of having no hearing impairment for the issuance of a driving licence. According to the NAD, the deaf are allowed to drive all over the world except in 26 countries including India. "The only reason why India is not willing to issue licences is that Indian vehicles lack the special gadgets that other countries' vehicles have. But we are considering the same and hoping that we will be able to amend some rules," Chandiok informed the bench. According to medical experts, those who can hear up to 60 decibels with the use of a hearing aid can be permitted to hold a driving licence for private vehicles, while those with a hearing level of up to 40 decibels with hearing aid can be allowed to drive commercial vehicles. According to the petitioner, even the Delhi Police website indicates that deaf people can drive and states, "There is no reason why a deaf person cannot drive a private motorcar. However, the possibility of additional rear vision mirrors may need to be considered."

This news is issued by The Times of India....

Standing Tall Sign language is the basis of Deaf culture

For the uninitiated, let’s start with the rules: It is now politically correct to describe people with pathological hearing loss as deaf and people who are culturally so as Deaf (with a big D).
Culturally Deaf people include people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and families of the deaf. Deafness is no longer a disability, it is a different human experience and Deaf people see themselves as a socio-ethnic minority, with a fractured past but with a history and culture they are proud of.
For the initiated, Big D communities and Deaf pride, have opened up spaces and avenues that open with only great difficulty, and not without a great fight, for discriminated groups. Many Deaf people and researches allude to the close-mindedness exhibited by mainstream media and education which have shown little initiative in making entertainment or information accessible for the Deaf. Captions are largely absent in movies, television shows and news broadcasts; and learning for deaf children is usually in English or a spoken regional language, which they have to learn by lip reading, a way of life that continuously makes them aware of their incongruousness with the hearing world.
Therefore their own culture makes sign languages the touchstone of Deaf activities all over the world. Different sign languages are practiced in different regions and one is completely unintelligible to users of the other as Swahili is to speakers of Samoan. “Sign language is the core and spirit of Deaf Culture, reiterates Sibaji Panda of Mumbai-based Deaf learning organisation Ishara, which promotes Deaf education in Indian Sign Language and English.
As knowledge of signed languages is mandatory to be a part of the Deaf culture, Big D art and work is often exclusive. For instance, the punch in Deaf humour lies in the visual pictures created by signed languages, Panda explains, and will not be understood by those who cannot read it. In an eloquent turning of discrimination on its head, the Deaf also often poke at the hearing and at interpreters, the way blondes and Sardarjis are victims of literal humour.
While Deaf Culture in India had its origins in exclusive programmes begun by the British in schools, the first Deaf association was formed only in the 1950s.
The Deaf community comprising learning centres such as Ishara, Delhi-based The Deaf Way and NGOs such as the Coimbatore-based Deaf Leaders regularly produce magazines, organise exclusive cultural activities, and Deaf Expos.
While Deaf art remains a somewhat niche phenomenon in India, countries such as the U.S.A. have made a lot of headway. Deaf characters in Hollywood movies are played by deaf actors such as Marlee Matlin, who won the Golden Globe and an Academy award for her portrayal of a deaf teacher, Sarah Norman, in her debut film “Children of a Lesser God” (1986) and consequently appeared in other Deaf movies, and hearing sitcoms such as Seinfeld and soap operas like “Desperate Housewives”.
In India, the Deaf Kolkata-based theatre group, The Action Players (TAP), who assert themselves as a mainstream group, have been enthralling audiences with their adaptations of Bengali and English plays for over three decades. Dancer Astad Deboo, has been choreographing the Deaf for 20 years now. Deaf artistes perform to the vibrations of the music on the wooden flooring.
Deboo has also worked with the Clarke School for the Deaf, Chennai, whose student Krithika performed with him at the Deaf Way in Washington D.C., a conference that brings together about 10,000 Deaf people from 100 countries to exhibit Deaf art, strengthen bonds and further Deaf discourse.
Another defiant stand of the Deaf community is against cochlear implants and hearing aids, which they believe make deaf and hard of hearing people straddle two worlds without the benefits of either. They say that while professionals have always forced these artificial aids on them saying it is best for them, it is just one more exercise in making them feel different from the rest.
What lies at the heart of Deaf culture is the same life force that holds together communities elsewhere: the desire to belong.

Courtsy by Metro Plus of Hindu paper (01.10.2009)