Kathmandu, May 15 -- Gyan Bahadur Thapa, a teacher at Navajyoti Deaf Secondary School in Sindhuli, had long wanted to follow parliamentary debates live like any other citizen. Although he cannot hear, he regularly watches television, uses a mobile phone, reads newspapers and closely follows current affairs. Politics and policymaking have always interested him, particularly the speeches and decisions of leaders elected through public votes.

For years, however, understanding live parliamentary proceedings was difficult for him. During broadcasts of House meetings, he depended on others to explain discussions through sign language. That changed after the Federal Parliament Secretariat introduced live sign language interpretation in both the...