MoS Banwari Lal Verma presides over the 2024 Sign Language Day event

Union Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Banwari Lal Verma presided over the Sign Language Day-2024 celebrations in New Delhi on 23 September 2024. The International Day of Sign Languages is celebrated all over the world on 23 September every year. 

The day is celebrated in India as the ‘Sign Language Day’.

The International Day of Sign Languages was celebrated for the first time on 23 September 2018. 

The United Nations General Assembly chose this date to commemorate the establishment of the World Federation of Deaf on 23 September 1951.

The day is celebrated to bring together stakeholders, citizens, service-providing agencies, schools for the deaf, NGOs, activists, deaf leaders, educators, researchers, etc., to create positive awareness about the utility of sign language for the deaf.

Sign Language Day-2024 celebrations in New Delhi 

The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), New Delhi, under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Union  Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, organised the event to celebrate Sign Language Day-2024 in New Delhi.

Theme of the Sign Language Day 2024 

The Union Ministry of  Social Justice and Empowerment has chosen ‘Support Sign Language Rights’ as the theme of the 2024 Theme of Sign Language Day.

Initiatives launched by the Government of India 

On the occasion of Sign Language Day, the Union Minister, B.L. Verma, launched various initiatives of the ISLRTC.

• Launch of 2500 terms in Indian Sign Language: The   ISLRTC, in collaboration with other organisations, has added 2500 new terms in various school subjects such as language, geography, mathematics, science, and higher education areas such as computer science, philosophy, linguistics, etc., and sports, infrastructure, accessibility, etc.
• One hundred concept videos in Indian Sign Language: ISLRTC, in collaboration with YUNIKEE Hyderabad, has developed 100 new concept videos in Indian Sign Language for Hearing-Impaired children in class 6th, covering various school subjects such as mathematics, science, social science, and language.
• Launch of ISL dictionary in 10 languages: The Indian Sign Language will now be available in 10 regional languages.