Indian Army adopts ‘deaf and mute’ village in Jammu & Kashmir

New Delhi: As part of its humanitarian efforts in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, the Indian Army has adopted a village named Dadhaki in the Doda district. The tribal village is home to about 105 families, out of which at least 55 families have a person who is deaf and mute. There are 78 persons including 41 women and 30 children who can not hear and speak.

According to the Army Spokesperson, Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army has adopted the village to give support to its population. In order to ensure the overall welfare of the population, multiple social security programmes are aimed at giving them the confidence to survive and make a living on their own. In the first step, besides looking after their basic needs such as clothing, food and healthcare, the Army has begun door-to-door personalized teaching classes for the mute children by deploying sign language experts who have been specially trained in Telangana, he said.

In the next step of the ongoing scheme, a school with a hostel facility will be provided in Dadhkai panchayat, the spokesperson said.

The Army had distributed hi-tech specialized hearing aids costing Rs 17,000 each, to 10 children in the first phase in January 2022, besides starting tutorials to teach them to sign language.

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