Sign language interpretation introduced at Science City to make exhibitions more inclusive

KOLKATA: Sign language interpretation made its debut at Science City on Tuesday as the country's premier science centre strove to reach out to the hearing and speech impaired and become more inclusive.
The first gallery at the Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM), also a constituent of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), is for visually impaired visitors.
Madhumita Manna, an interpreter for the hearing and speech impaired who trained to communicate in sign language at the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech & Hearing Disabilities in Bonhooghly, translated the speeches by scientists, science communicators, and dignitaries attending the inauguration of an international exhibition on vaccines at the Science City auditorium.
Six students with speech and hearing disability eagerly followed the nods and hand gestures Manna made as she lucidly explained what each dignitary was saying. Even when a presentation on the development of Covaxin was being made with the lights in the auditorium turned down, a spotlight shone on her so that she could continue to communicate with the six special guests in the audience.
"I only recently received my diploma in Indian sign language interpretation from the Rehabilitation Council of India, and the Science City assignment was my first," she said.
"We are trying to make our activities more inclusive. The entire exhibition 'Vaccines Injecting Hope' is also available at the hall in Braille for the visually impaired. Going forward, we will continue to strive to make Science City accessible to everyone. Entry for special children is free at Science City and we organise special guided tours whenever there is a group of visitors with special needs," said Science City director Anurag Kumar.
British Council director (East and Northeast India) Debanjan Chakrabarti publicly applauded the initiative in making the programme more accessible and commended Manna for the difficult task that she performed effortlessly.
BITM has a gallery called 'World of Darkness' where the blind can experience the solar system through thermal sensors and Braille. While the Sun feels hot when touched, as one moves away from it to distant planets, they feel progressively cooler. "We took the help of the Blind School at RKM Narendrapur to design the gallery," explained NCSM director general Arijit Datta Choudhury.