43 deaf students displaced by BMRCL lose academic year

Botched rehabilitation work carried out by the BMRCL has cost 43 hearing-impaired students an entire academic year.

In January 2018, DH reported the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (BMRCL) decision to demolish the Technical Training Centre for the Deaf, located in Shivajinagar, for metro construction.

It was the only such facility in Karnataka for hearing-impaired children working since 1982.

Students and faculty members at the institute had demanded the BMRCL make suitable arrangements for the continuation of education rather than escaping responsibility by transferring money to the management. The then managing director of the BMRCL promised to make “alternative arrangements”.

In the later years, the BMRCL adopted policies that dehumanised the idea of rehabilitation as officials washed their hands of after paying compensation to the trust that ran the institute.

“All promises were forgotten the moment the building was vacated in 2019. We were kept in the dark for a long time. By the time we realised that no alternative had been made for my child, the lockdown had been imposed,” the mother of a second-year ITI student told DH on the condition of anonymity.

The mother of another student broke down as she spoke about her family. “My husband is an auto-rickshaw driver. I work as a domestic help to compensate for the earnings shortage. I get frustrated that my son couldn’t clear ITI. He is our only hope now. My eldest son died four months ago. He was only 30,” she said.

Most of the 43 students come from families below the poverty line and hardly earn the minimum wage. Some travelled from nearby districts in the hope that getting an ITI certificate will help them get jobs.

Documents show that the BMRCL arranged for teaching in Ghousia Polytechnic for Women and paid Rs 9.35 lakh to provide hostel facilities to 17 children. The parents, however, said the move didn’t help.

“Arrangements were made in Ghousia Polytechnic for Women where the faculty had no idea of sign language and lacked experience in teaching children with special needs. My son said he could not understand anything,” a mother of a male student said.

By the end of the academic year, 30 of the 43 students had failed in Engineering Drawing and some of them had failed in multiple subjects. The BMRCL took note of the students’ plight after Growth Watch, an NGO, raised the matter.

BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez held several meetings and deputed Divya Hosur, General Manager (SEMU), to look into the issue.

“It’s true there has been some delay in rehabilitating these children. Ever since the matter was brought to my notice, effective steps have been taken. Now, a mechanism has been set up to follow up on the works to ensure their education is continued. We are also working to arrange employment for them,” he said.

Seema S, the mother of another student, acknowledged the role of officials. “My daughter’s education was discontinued and she got married. However, Divya madam called me and encouraged me to send her to college. She wrote the exam last week. We hope she gets a job,” she said.

Speaking to DH, Divya said special arrangements were being made to take care of the students. “Two students had given up studies and gone back to Bihar. The MD flew them in just in time for the crash course and helped them take the exam. A stipend of Rs 2,500 is being provided to complete the education. We are also trying to arrange jobs for them,” she said.

Rajani Santosh, a member of Growth Watch, acknowledged the change in the BMRCL’s stance. “We are happy to see officials taking proactive measures. However, such measures should not depend on individual officials. Rather, they should be embedded in the organisation’s approach to the build metro to make the project inclusive,” she said.