Mumbai: The deafblind have written to the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment demanding that information and communication from the govt be made available to them in a form that is accessible to them.
Zamir Dhale, founder-director, Society for the Empowerment of the Deafblind (SEDB) has pointed in his email that the pandemic has aggravated the marginalisation of the deaf-blind community as they lack access to basic information due to a serious lack of tactile interpretation services. The community also lacks the means to afford assistive devices that can help them navigate publicly disclosed information.
All this, in effect, excludes them from knowing the measures announced by the government, as well as expressing their concerns about measures being considered, he said in the mail.
The organisation also demanded to include deafblindness as a separate category under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Not being recognised as a separate category has an impact on their access to support services and them becoming invisible even among persons with disabilities, the email read. It also demanded appropriate social protection and supplementary support devices for them.
