D. R. Mehta, the founder and chief patron of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, the organisation known the world over for the affordable artificial Jaipur Foot, has been selected for this year’s Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Puraskar. Dr. Mehta, now in the gallery of those like Mother Teresa, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Sunil Dutt and Dilip Kumar, is a retired civil servant and former Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief and former Deputy Chairman of the Reserve Bank of India. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Motilal Vora made the announcement of the award in New Delhi on 4th August.
Mr. Vora is the member-secretary of the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Puraskar Advisory Committee which had met in Delhi a day before. The award, which carries a citation and a cash component of Rs.5 lakh, will be presented to Dr. Mehta in Delhi on August 10, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
Dr. Mehta, who lives in Jaipur, has been chosen by the award committee for his “outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill”. The 76-year-old, who set up the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti in 1975, has made its most popular product Jaipur Foot a household name among the handicaps, particularly in the world’s conflict zones where a lot of people lose their limbs because of mine blasts. From Afghanistan to Angola, the below-the-knee limb is known for transforming the lives of thousands of land mine amputees.
Dr. Mehta’s organisation has so far helped 1.3 million people in India and abroad. It provides artificial limbs and callipers and other walking aids and appliances to the poor free of cost. A major advantage of Jaipur Foot is its affordability; at Rs.2,200, it is the cheapest artificial limb in the world. Jaipur Foot is also known for its lightness and mobility. Those who are equipped with it can run, climb a tree and pedal a bicycle. A similar prosthetic built in the West would cost anything between $10,000 and $12,000.
Mr. Vora is the member-secretary of the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Puraskar Advisory Committee which had met in Delhi a day before. The award, which carries a citation and a cash component of Rs.5 lakh, will be presented to Dr. Mehta in Delhi on August 10, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
Dr. Mehta, who lives in Jaipur, has been chosen by the award committee for his “outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill”. The 76-year-old, who set up the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti in 1975, has made its most popular product Jaipur Foot a household name among the handicaps, particularly in the world’s conflict zones where a lot of people lose their limbs because of mine blasts. From Afghanistan to Angola, the below-the-knee limb is known for transforming the lives of thousands of land mine amputees.
Dr. Mehta’s organisation has so far helped 1.3 million people in India and abroad. It provides artificial limbs and callipers and other walking aids and appliances to the poor free of cost. A major advantage of Jaipur Foot is its affordability; at Rs.2,200, it is the cheapest artificial limb in the world. Jaipur Foot is also known for its lightness and mobility. Those who are equipped with it can run, climb a tree and pedal a bicycle. A similar prosthetic built in the West would cost anything between $10,000 and $12,000.
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