'Jaipur foot' crosses over to Pakistan

JAIPUR: It took a BBC film to do it, but the Jaipur Foot seems set to step across to Pakistan. Lahore-based businessman Mian Mansha has approached the Mahavir Viklang Samiti here, seeking a Jaipur Foot camp in Pakistan for the benfit of amputees.
A film on the Jaipur Foot that BBC aired in April this year so moved Mansha that he immediately contacted a Mumbai-based business acquaintance, Mahendra Mehta.The Lahore businessman is willing to walk the extra mile, volunteering to bear all costs.
Former SEBI chairman DR Mehta, who heads the Mahavir Viklang Samiti, said the proposal has been conveyed to the external affairs ministry. Mehta said he has also told external affairs minister Natwar Singh that a Jaipur Foot camp in Pakistan would not only be a humanitarian gesture, but would also help in strengthening Indo-Pak relations.
The Jaipur Foot was conceptualised by renowned orthopaedician Dr PK Sethi and artisan Master Ram Chandra.
Mehta said the Samiti has studied the requirements of Pakistanis needing artificial limbs. "Jaipur Foot is the cheapest artificial limb available anywhere in the world and it costs only Rs 1,500 a piece. A similar artificial limb in the US costs Rs 8,000," Mehta said.