Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon yesterday said a sign language institute will be set up soon for hearing impaired people of the country, reports BSS.

"There are nearly 1.6 lakh hearing disabled people in the country. So, it is urgent to establish a sign language institute to help hearing impaired people for improving communication skills," he told a function held at the Department of Social Services on the occasion of Bangla Sign Language Day-2018 here.

Menon said the present government has taken various initiatives to overcome the language barrier of hearing disabled people through providing opportunity of sign language, an official release said.

"We should promote sign language as it will help deaf children to continue their studies at the educational institutions," he added.

Social Welfare Secretary Md Zillur Rahman and officials of government and non-government organisations, among others, addressed the function with Director General of Department of Social Services Gazi Mohammad Nurul Kabir in the chair.