Lok Sabha Question No. 1149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-08
Subject: Accessibility Guidelines for TV Channels
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Sanjay Jaiswal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1149 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2022)

## ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR TV CHANNELS.

1149. DR. SANJAY JAISWAL:

## Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:

- (a) the current requirement under the 'Accessibility Standards' under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 for TV channels to carry captions in the same language; (b) whether the Government has data regarding the channels that comply with these standards till date, if so, the details thereof; (c)  whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  expedite  to  make  100  per  cent same language captioning compulsory on all channels by 2023; (d) whether the Government has issued accessibility guidelines for TV channels to broadcast news in sign language and if so, the details thereof; (e) whether the Government has issued guidelines to present the speeches of important national leaders simultaneously in sign language on TV channels and if so, the details thereof; and (f)  the  details  of  the  data  on  TV  channels  that  broadcast  content  in  sign
- language or with captions?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; AND MINISTER OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

(a) to (f) : In line with the provisions made under Section 29(h) and Section 40 of the  Rights  of  Persons  with  Disabilities  Act  (RPwD  Act),  2016,  Ministry  of Information and Broadcasting has formulated and issued 'Accessibility Standards  for  Persons  with  Disabilities  in  Television  Programmes'  dated 11.09.2019.  The  said  standards  prescribe  for  the  broadcasters  to  make  TV

programmes and news content more accessible and inclusive through implementing subtitles/captions/sign-language in a phased manner. The language  of  the  closed  captioning  or  subtitles  shall  be  the  language  of  the content.  As  per  the  available  data,  62  TV  news  channels  and  76  TV  programs have been made accessible. Subsequent to the notification of the aforesaid standards under the RPwD Act, 2016,  the  broadcasters  are  required  to  expeditiously  meet  the  targets  in  a phased manner. The Ministry has also issued advisory to all private satellite TV Channels  to  carry  TV  programmes  with  sign  language  for  accessing  national events viz. Republic Day / Independence Day by differently abled people. Prasar Bharati has apprised that it carries Sign language bulletins for hearing impaired persons daily on its DD News channel.  Prasar Bharati also provides the feed of these  bulletins  to  all  Private  Satellite  News  Channels  for  inclusion  in  their broadcast free of cost. In addition, Prasar Bharati also telecasts sign language  versions  of  events  of  National  importance  on  its  channels.  These include address by the Hon`ble President of India on the eve of the     Independence  Day,  Republic  Day  and  also  live  telecast  of  Independence Day and   Republic Day events. Prasar Bharati has also been carrying live sign language interpretation of major sports events.

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