Seventh All India Conference of the Deaf (AICD) concludes in Guwahati

GUWAHATI: The seventh All India Conference of the Deaf (AICD) successfully took place in Guwahati, Assam, from May 18 to May 21. The said event was organized by the All India Federation of the Deaf (AIFD), New Delhi, and hosted by the Assam Association of the Deaf (AAD), Guwahati, which is one of the state-level affiliates of AIFD. The seventh AICD assumed special importance as it was held after a gap of 35 years; the last one was held in New Delhi in 1988. The four-day conference included a host of activities, from presentations to discussions on various topics concerning Deaf people’s rights to Deaf cultural shows. The Organizing Committee (OC) of the 7th AICD, headed by Chairman of the Organising Committee Mukul Dutta, played a pivotal role in planning and executing the programme, while AIFD and AAD provided excellent support in ensuring the success of the conference.

On the opening day, May 18, the flag hoisting took place in the morning, which kicked off the conference. The organising committee welcomed deaf participants from different states of India that were state-level affiliates of AIFD. These included Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, New Delhi, and Assam itself, the host The deaf participants from other non-affiliate Deaf organisations from North-Eastern states, viz., Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, were specially invited to participate in the conference. Over 450 participants were registered for the said conference. On the second day, May 19, Sunil Sahasrabudhe, the President of AIFD, and Roshan Kumar, the General Secretary of AIFD, gave their presentations. After lunch, the participants were taken to B.D.S. Deaf and Dumb School, Kahilipara, Guwahati, a state government-run school for the Deaf children. The Principal of B.D.S. Govt. Higher Secondary School for Hearing Impaired, Kahilipara Kulkeswar Bora, welcomed all the participants, and they were provided lunch. On the third day, May 20, the leaders from different states gave their reports on the activities within their organisations to all participants, thereby exchanging new information with participants from other states. .

In the afternoon before lunchtime, the Hon’ble Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of Assam, Pijush Hazarika, MLA Dignata Kalita, and MLA Taranga Gogoi, President of Assam Badminton Association, and Tuliram Ronghang, CEM, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, paid a visit to the conference and greeted the audience. On May 21, the last day of the conference, participants were taken to watch the acclaimed regional Marathi film ‘Baba’ (2019) at PVR, Guwahati. The story of the film revolved around two main deaf characters as a couple using sign language. The host AAD, the OC, and AIFD are still in financial distress, and they expected much better treatment from the Government of Assam, which at the same time raised crores of rupees under CSR for the Natural Farming Conclave, which was also held on the campus of the Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium, Guwahati, stated a press release.

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