Police stations across Odisha will soon be made more inclusive and
accessible for people who are deaf. The government has decided to provide
sign language interpreters that would help the police take down complaints
and information from victims who are deaf or have speech disabilities and are
seeking police assistance.
The decision to make sign language interpreters available for deaf people is
part of the state government’s plan to ensure better police services to the
public. Through the Mo Sarkar(my government)
programme, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and senior officers
will receive direct feedback from complainants about response and conduct of
officials at more than 600 police stations.
People who are deaf and have speech related issues find it challenging to
file their reports at the police stations as the staff does not know or
understand sign language. Due to the communication barrier police personnel
are not able to get the complete gist of the matter and the investigation
suffers.
The authorities have starting working on the plan already and they are
looking for people who are well versed and trained in the use and
understanding of sign language.
We are working on making the service available to the deaf people.
Everything is still in the planning and discussion stage and we are hopeful
of rolling it out soon. Concerned departments will share the resources and
when a deaf person visits a police station for assistance, a sign language
interpreter will be made available to help in the communication and
interpret. Once the implementation begins, we will get a better idea of how
it works and we will keep making amends. We will continue to review the
system and fine tune it as required. – Sudhanshu Sarangi, Police
Commissioner, Bhubaneswar
The step has been welcomed by many and is being seen as a step forward
towards inclusion, however, there are many deaf people who do not understand
Indian sign language and for them the issue of communication gap may still be
a huge challenge.
“It’s a good initiative taken by Odisha government but in Odisha many deaf
people are not well educated and don’t know sign language”, points out
Jyoti Prasanna Patnaik, a social worker “So, a big question is that
if a deaf victim is not aware about sign language then how the interpreter
can will interpret? And government officials must also know the basic
disability etiquette”.
The Mo Sarkar (my government) initiative also
applies to services offered by 21 district headquarter
hospitals and some medical colleges in the state as well. The names
and numbers of people who visited either a police station or hospital will be
stored in a portal, which will randomly seek feedback from 10 people every
day.
The Chief Minister has promised a more proactive police force too. “Under the
Mo Sarkar initiative, a citizen will not chase police to register a complain
rather, Police officials will follow up with the complainant as to how he was
treated at the police station and how his complaint was dealt with”. Big
promises that will be closely watched.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/odisha-plans-to-provide-sign-language-interpreters-at-police-stations
