Jammu- The silent village of India, Dhadkai, finally got a promise fulfilled when a special school was opened for them by a businessman turned social activist Mujtaba Fazili of Kashmir valley.
This school is dedicated to the deaf and mute children of Dhadkai village and has opened in two rooms in the existing Government High School.
Fazili has taken the responsibility of bearing the expenses of salary of the teacher and other things of the school so that these children can have formal education like other children of the village.
Situated around 220 kms from Jammu, the Dhadkai village came into light when it was observed that many people are born with hearing and talking and it passes from generation to generation. The first case of deaf and mute, according to the locals, was found in 1901 and it spread from one generation to another. At present there are 82 deaf and mute people living in two Panchayats Dhadkai-A and Dhadkai-B whereas the number a few years back had risen to 98.
The population of these two panchayats is around 2000 souls.
Since the village came into the limelight, many organizations, including government as well as non-government, announced several packages for the special population with some promises fulfilled like doing genetics tests, and many remained confined to lip service only.
Now, finally the wait of the population to provide formal education to their children has ended and a school has been opened for them where a trained teacher of sign language will be imparting education to them.
Mujtaba Fazili said, “During my stay in Qatar and England, I had made a commitment to myself to open the school for these special children in this silent village of India. It was not possible without the support of deputy commissioner Doda Harvinder Singh and Major Dankit of 4 Rashtriya Rifles who have provided every kind of help to open this school.”
The school will be run in two rooms of the government high school in the first place and in the future a separate building will be built for the school. In absence of special school for these children, those who wanted to take education had to travel to Jammu where a special school for deaf and mute students is being run by the Jammu and Kashmir government. “We are expected to get support from a Hyderabad based organization and UNICEF, and I am working on it. I am meeting the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha tomorrow where officers of Indian Army will also be present,” Fazili added.
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