The never-say-die spirit

not once did 65-year-old muniyappa of nargund imagine that life would be normal once again after he lost his leg in an accident. rajanikanth (35), of cuddapah in andhra pradesh, is able to ride a motorcycle and is at ease using his hand for routine activities. he had lost his hands in a mine blast. rekha of dharwad was allegedly thrown on the railway tracks and almost run over by a moving train.she lost her limbs in the accident. but now wants to fight back. they are among the 6,000 physically challenged, for whom life was never the same after they visited bhagawan mahaveer jaipur artificial limbs and callipers centre (bmjalcc) of hubli, which offers free service. it was about six years ago that the ambitious programme was launched. do you know who the inspiration was? says mahendra singhi, ``one day i was watching film actress sudha chandran, who is physically challenged, dancing like any other danseuse.'' the all india jain youth federation decided to start an artificial limbs and calipers centre in `hubli and it was housed in the karnataka institute of medical sciences campus. jaipur is the mother of all such centres in the country, but bmjalcc does have some distinctions. it is the only centre which produces the `below elbow' kit. and artificial limbs produced here are very light and durable and are efficiently and accurately made to requirement. the centre works in collaboration with hospitals and other agencies. according to singhi, ``there is a steady increase in demand with a steep rise in accidents. everyday, five people walk out fitted with a `jaipur limb'. on each case, the bmjalcc spends rs 1,000.'' to meet the demand, camps are being organised at various places in the state. till now, about 22 such camps were held and very recently, one was held in goa. ``the idea is to meet increasing demand and taking the facility to the doorstep of the rural population in the state,'' he added. at present, the bmjalcc does not have a rehabilitation centre and full-fledged nursing home. an exclusive project is coming up on kusugal road in hubli, which would cost rs 3 crore. the fund will be pooled through donations and also mp s.r. bommai's local development fund. unlike other organisations, the all india jain youth federation has a novel idea to nominate office-bearers for bmjalcc. the first criteria will be based on attendance at the centre and the other by donations. ``a person who makes the maximum visits to the centre would reveal interest in welfare activity. that would automatically nominate him as the office-bearer,'' singhi said. mahendra singhi is president, virendra jain (chairman), bhawarlal jain (vice-president), jayanthi chouhan (secretary), praveen bafna (joint secretary), goutam golecha (convener) and birbal bishnoi (vice-president).