Army reaches out deaf and dumb villagers, starts tutorials

Beneficiaries and Army personnel posing for group photograph. —Excelsior/Tilak Raj
Beneficiaries and Army personnel posing for group photograph. —Excelsior/Tilak Raj

Excelsior Correspondent
DODA, Jan 18: Extending its community welfare development projects to extend helping hand to the tribal villagers suffering with mysterious illness (born deaf and dumb) that has struck like a curse in a particular village Dadhkai of Gandoh, leaving 78 of them deaf and dumb, Rashtriya Rifles unit based at Bhadarwah reached out to the tribal gujjars to distribute specialized hearing aids among the differently abled children, besides starting tutorials to teach them sign language.
Giving a new dimension to the Sadhbhavana project, Army located the far off hill top tribal village Dadhkai, 105 km from Bhadarwah town and came with a novel initiative to provide the deaf and dumb villagers with specialised hearing aids beside the RR unit also started 2 months door to door tutorials to teach the differently abled children the sign language.
The programme was inaugurated at Dadhkai-A village by SSP Doda Abdul Qayoom who was also the chief guest, while CO 4RR presided over the function and Mohammad Hanief Deedar BDC Chairman was the guest of honour.
Commanding Officer while addressing the villagers informed that the hearing equipment costing Rs 17,000 each have been especially designed for the deaf and dumb with lifetime warranty and will help the specially abled younger generation to understand the sign language for which experts will provide door to door tuition to affected Children.
SSP Abdul Qyoom said that this gesture will not only provide the much needed self confidence among these villagers and will also help bring them out of the despair but outside world may also come to know about this mysterious disorder which is limited to this particular village of gujjars only.
Chairman BDC Mohammad Hanief appealed to that Ministry of Tribal Affairs to open a permanent special school for the deaf and dumb villagers which will be of great help to them.
SSP, CO 4RR and SDM Gandoh assured that they will take up the matter with the concerned Ministry with a request to open the School for differently abled tribal children.