Hyderabad: The Jaipur Foot is low on cost, but high on technology. It is a smart artificial limb that costs about Rs 4,100 and the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti that has innovated this prosthetic makes the handicapped walk with dignity.
The founder of the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), Devendra Raj Mehta, was a civil servant and rose to become the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and then the founder Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). He founded the BMVSS, the parent body of the famous Jaipur Foot.
He comes from a family who followed Gandhism and he has set up the BMVSS to help those amputees who lost their limbs causing immense social problems and loss of income.
“I set up the BMVSS forty-four years ago as service is another cardinal principle of Gandhism. The famous hymn sung every morning by Mahatma Gandhi in the prayer meeting was 'Vaishnav Janto Tene Kahiye, Jo Peer Parayee Jaane Re.' We at the BMVSS sense the pain of others. A man who comes to the BMVSS centre limping or crawling goes back having gained not only mobility but also dignity. This is Gandhism in action," said Mehta.
Mehta, who has been reading a lot of Einstein said that India's biggest gift to the 20th century was Mahatma Gandhi and India could take lead in giving the 21st century Gandhian engineering or frugal engineering.
"Gandhian engineering stresses on innovations that should not just be affordable, but extremely affordable. 'More from less for more' (MLM) can also be achieved by more and more participants in the innovation process.
The MLM strategy forces us to measure an opportunity by the ends of innovation - what people actually get to enjoy - as opposed to just an increase in their means. The Jaipur Foot is a local innovation on trying to get 'more performance from less financial resources'.
A master craftsman late master Ramchandra first thought of and made Jaipur Foot. Thereafter, three doctors joined the innovation and in 1968, presented the world the first Jaipur Foot. The best makers of Jaipur Foot are the local artisans. In 1968, the Jaipur Foot cost Rs 250. 44 years later, it cost Rs 4100.
"A comparable limb in the western world, made through different technologies, costs an amputee $10,000 or even more, whereas the Jaipur Foot costs $66," said Mehta.
When the Ministry Of External Affairs (MEA) drew up its plan to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary programme, it chose the Jaipur Foot for projecting the country under the 'India For Humanity' programme.
With its focus on Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of compassion, caring and service to humanity, the initiative will feature a year-long series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number of countries spanning the globe, for which the MEA chose the BMVSS as the collaborating agency.
Speaking on the launch last year, late external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had said "It is in this spirit that we launch this wonderful initiative, India for Humanity. This initiative will touch the lives of thousands of people who are in need of such assistance and will span over one year covering several countries. The larger aim is to provide for the physical, economic and social rehabilitation of the differently-abled around the world by helping them regain their mobility and dignity to become self-respecting and productive members of society."
Thus with the help of the government of India, the Gandhian philosophy of compassion travelled to Vietnam, Myanmar, Iraq, Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi, and Egypt, and over 3000 amputees were equipped with the Jaipur Foot to enable them to walk with dignity.
In India, the Jaipur Foot has its imprint in 600 districts of the country apart from 33 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Jaipur Foot has become indeed India's symbol of compassion now. Pandit Nehru’s incomparable speech - "Tryst with Destiny" summarized Gandhism as wiping tears from every face. When we make people walk, their sorrow vanishes and they blossom into smiling beings.
"Jaipur Foot is an outcome of Gandhism in practice," remarked Mehta.
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