Darkness, silence no hurdles for Indore woman with disabilities as she takes up govt job

Gurdeep Kaur Vasu, popularly known as 'Indore's Helen Keller', cannot speak, hear and see, but these physical disabilities could not affect her grit and courage or stop her from dreaming of joining government service.

After a long struggle through the social, academic and government corridors, the 34-year-old woman's dream has now finally come true as she has got an appointment in Madhya Pradesh's Commercial Tax Department.

Social activists claim this is the first case in the country of a speech, hearing and visually impaired woman joining government service.

Gurdeep's family is proud of her fighting spirit and her department lauds her as a dedicated employee.

She communicates with people through 'Tactile Sign Language' by pressing their hands and fingers. Gurdeep, who studied till class 12, has been posted at an office of the Commercial Tax Department in Indore as a Class IV employee in the category of multiple disabilities, government officials said on Wednesday.

She was selected on the basis of her merit under a special recruitment drive for Divyang persons, Commercial Tax Department's additional commissioner Sapna Pankaj Solanki told PTI.

''Gurdeep is learning the work with full dedication. She comes to office on time,'' the official said.

Her journey to join the government service was not easy.

Gurdeep's mother Manjit Kaur Vasu, getting emotional on her daughter's achievement, said, ''Gurdeep is the first member of our family to join the government service. I had not even imagined that she would ever reach this position. Nowadays, people recognise me more as Gurdeep's mother than my own name.'' She said Gurdeep was born before the due delivery date and due to complications, she was admitted to a local hospital for about two months after birth.

Gurdeep did not show reaction to anything till the age of five months, after which the family came to know she could not speak, hear and see, she said.

After Gurdeep joined the government service, there is an atmosphere of happiness among the people working for rights of the disabled.

Social justice activist Gyanendra Purohit claimed, ''This is the first time in the country that a woman who cannot speak, hear and see has joined the government service. This is a historic and inspiring moment for the entire Divyang community.'' Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act-2016, there is a provision to give reservation in government jobs to speech, hearing and visually impaired people like other disabled candidates, but it is very difficult to convince the government machinery to implement it, he said.

''People like Gurdeep, who are challenging different types of disabilities, can do everything. They just need to be given a chance,'' the activist added.

Sign language expert and Gurdeep teacher's Monica Purohit said Gurdeep communicates with the person in front of her by pressing his/her hands and fingers, which is called 'Tactile Sign Language'.

Beaming with joy on getting the government job, Gurdeep spread her hands and in the sign language said, ''I am very, very happy.''

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)