Health · Healthcare & Policy · 6 hrs ago
YMCA Madras opens IAS academy for people with hearing and speech disabilities
YMCA Madras has opened an academy to prepare students for civil services exams in Chennai.
The first batch will have 50 students, 43 of whom have hearing or speech disabilities.
Classes at the YMCA Building on NSC Bose Road will include sign-language support and live speech-to-text software.
For this year, YMCA Madras has partnered with St. Louis Institute for the Deaf and the Blind in Adyar.
The academy is part of YMCA’s MY Institute project, which offers academic support, skills programmes, sports and cultural activities.
The programme aims to help students with disabilities prepare for public service careers, including roles that involve putting government policies into practice.
YMCA Madras launched an IAS academy to prepare people with hearing and speech disabilities for civil services examinations.
The first batch will have 50 students, including 43 with speech and hearing impairments.
Classes will be held at the YMCA Building on NSC Bose Road, with sign language specialists and real-time speech-to-text software.
The initiative is part of YMCA’s MY Institute project and is being run this year in partnership with St. Louis Institute for the Deaf and the Blind.
- Who
- YMCA Madras launched the academy for people with hearing and speech disabilities.
- What
- An IAS academy will train students to take civil services examinations.
- When
- Saturday; the article was published on November 14, 2026.
- Where
- The YMCA Building on NSC Bose Road, in Madras.
- Why
- To provide training and support for people with hearing and speech disabilities preparing for civil services examinations.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
YMCA Madras tied up with St. Louis Institute for the Deaf and the Blind in Adyar for the initiative.
YMCA Madras launched the IAS academy and Justice P.T. Asha inaugurated it.
- First batch
- 50 students, including 43 with speech and hearing impairments
- Class location
- YMCA Building on NSC Bose Road
- Classroom support
- Sign language specialists and real-time speech-to-text software
- Partner institution
- St. Louis Institute for the Deaf and the Blind in Adyar
- Tamil Nadu figures
- About 2,20,024 people with hearing impairment, 80,077 with speech impairment, and 92,796 with both disabilities
What people are saying
The duty of an IAS officer is to ensure continuity in functioning of the government irrespective of the party in power
their preparation should be structured and they should dedicate 12 hours a day for 400 days if they are to crack the civil services examinations