R-Day broadcast: I&B ministry refuses sign language interpreter

The ministry of information and broadcasting Monday turned down the demand of the disabled community in the country to broadcast live the Republic Day parade via sign language interpreter on all the major channels of Doordarshan.

Taking cognizance of the issue raised by the disabled community a few weeks ago, the ministry had offered them accessible telecast on three channels -- DD Bharati, DD News and DD Urdu.

"Disabled are always ignored and the I&B ministry has proved it today," said Javed Abidi, convener of the Disabled Rights Group, who was part of the meeting with the secretary of the ministry of information and broadcasting and social empowerment and justice held at the Shastri Bhawan.

"I&B ministry and Doordarshan believe that by live broadcasting the Republic Day parade via sign language interpreter on all DD channels, the normal programmes will get disturbed", he said to more than 200 disabled members of the community waiting outside the Shastri Bhawan for the results of the meeting.

Abidi said the ministry was not aware of the fact that by not making the live coverage accessible to the disabled, it was spreading a message of discrimination.

"Though the government wants to make the development process inclusive, it forgets every time to include the 18 million members of the disabled community," Abidi told IANS.

"As the government has not accepted our demands, our group will intensify its protest to ensure it is met."