Signs of hope: How inclusion is becoming par for the course at public events 

Movies, concerts, sports matches—all today are including sign language interpreters for hearing impaired audiences, making the events more inclusive. This is also extending to court proceedings, police investigations and press conferences.

At the annual Rainbow Literature Festival in Delhi, interpreters were seen accompanying all the panellists and artists taking the stage. At the Serendipity festival, interpreters were even decoding instrumental music. The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art also has provisions for interpreters as part of its programming. Coldplay’s concerts in India last year, and the Indian Premier League matches, both provided sign language interpreters.

While this is encouraging news, with almost 63 million deaf persons in the country, currently we have only one interpreter for every 75,000 deaf persons.

Some remedies are happening in this direction. Assam, for example, has become the first state to officially introduce Indian sign language (ISL) as an elective subject in classes 11 and 12 in mainstream schools. While the National Education Policy of 2020 calls for standardisation of study materials for deaf students, not all states have taken up the baton, while some are still in the process of implementation.

Sitaare Zameen Par and ’83 also stood out as examples, being films that considered and made provisions for the deaf community as well. The Inclusion Movement, a volunteer organisation that works for the empowerment and accessibility of and for disabled persons, in December last year held its first iteration of Deafcon, a music concert for deaf rappers, where nearly 70 audience members from the community attended.

“Globally, over 70 countries recognise a national sign language through legislation,” says Smriti Rajgarhia, director, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Serendipity Arts Festival. “In India, however, ISL does not yet have full official language status accompanied by clear, enforceable state-level implementation obligations.”

Rajgarhia adds: “The festival’s decision to integrate ISL interpretation stems from a recognition that accessibility in the arts remains structurally underdeveloped. In India, cultural spaces have historically prioritised physical access over communication access, and even physical access remains inconsistent,” she adds.

Meanwhile, KNMA collaborates with accessibility-focused organisations such as Access For All, along with a network of experienced professional interpreters. “Depending on the scale and nature of the programme, the museum works with a small pool of interpreters to ensure consistent and high-quality ISL support across its events,” offers Apurva Kacker, director, institutional affairs, learning and outreach, KNMA.

To ensure access for the deaf community, KNMA clearly indicates this through the ISL logo along with relevant accessibility information. “This ensures that audiences are informed in advance and can plan their visit accordingly,” adds Kacker.
Inclusion & employability

One would be amazed to know how often and in what situations deaf persons require interpreters, says Rupmani Chhetri, head of communications and outreach at SignAble, an Indian on-demand ISL interpreter service. “Whether it’s talking to family members and doctors, or appearing for interviews, deaf persons benefit so much from interpreters that other persons would generally take for granted,” she adds.

Launched in 2019, SignAble provides interpreters for a host of B2B and B2C companies, as well as internal communication interpreters for Amazon and Amazon customer services. “In an ideal future, we should have interpreters for every news channel as well, so we can hear and watch the news,” says Chhetri, adding, “Otherwise the deaf community always arrives at vital, public information they should be aware of later than the rest of society.”

The demand for interpreters is growing in automotive, hospitality, healthcare, IT, e-commerce, retail, and corporate sectors, explains TKM Sandeep, founder of Deaf Enabled Foundation (DEF), a non-profit organisation founded in 2009.

“Organisations are becoming more aware of accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and are therefore engaging sign language interpreters as a part of their workforce.”

However, there is still a major gap due to the shortage of qualified interpreters, high workload, and low salary, which leads many to shift to better opportunities, says Sandeep. “This affects continuous access for deaf employees, especially in rural areas, higher education, healthcare, and government services,” he adds. 

Sandeep says, in his experience, he has noted a growth in awareness over the last decade or so, especially after the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016. “Earlier, our focus was mainly on basic education and livelihood, and interpreters were rarely available beyond classrooms or public programmes. Today, as more deaf youth enter higher education, skill development, and professional sectors such as IT, retail, hospitality, and MNCs, the need for sign language interpreters has become an essential part of the ecosystem,” he adds.

Through its programmes alone, DEF sees requirements for interpreters in job interviews, workplace training, corporate meetings, mentoring sessions, online learning, and government and CSR initiatives. This shows the progress from a charity-based approach to a rights-based and career-focused inclusion model, says Sandeep. “I see a growing interest of hearing persons in learning sign language and becoming interpreters as a very important and positive development,” says Sandeep, adding: “The demand for interpreters has increased because more deaf youth are entering higher education, skill training, and corporate employment, and organisations are now actively seeking accessibility support. This has created interpreting as a visible and viable career option.”

Still a long way to go

Government institutes like the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) and Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities (AYJNISHD), besides NGOs, regularly conduct sign language courses, both online and offline. “However, job opportunities remain limited. Deaf individuals in India, many of whom face economic marginalisation, are unable to afford the services. As a result, interpreters often do not receive consistent work,” says Aqil Chinoy, project head for sign language training at Signing Hands Foundation, an NGO for the education and empowerment of the deaf people.

As of now, ISLRTC is the most reliable institution providing ISL training and research opportunities for interpreters. The National Centre for Education Research and Training (NCERT), in collaboration with ISLRTC, has also developed school textbooks in ISL for deaf students, following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2020. But not all states have adopted these in mainstream schools as part of the curriculum yet.

“The solution lies in government-supported, free or low-cost interpretation services. Accessibility is not a luxury—it is a matter of human rights and social justice,” says Chinoy. “One of the most impactful changes in India would be introducing ISL as an optional language to learn in mainstream  schools, alongside Hindi, English or any other language. This way they can utilise ISL professionally in their careers and work directly with deaf people.”

As of now, freelance interpreters earn anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 2,500 per hour depending on the location but the profession lacks stability for many, adds Chinoy.

Noting the silver lining, Ramya Miryala, COO, DEF, observes, “The most powerful change I have personally witnessed is that earlier we had to convince organisations to include deaf individuals, but today companies are approaching us and asking how to make their workplaces accessible. That mindset shift is a very big milestone for inclusion in our country.”