Coronavirus: Jaipur Foot USA postpones mega camp in Patna

The Jaipur Foot's US chapter has deferred mega camp in Patna to provide the needy artificial limbs in view of travel restrictions and precautionary measures implemented by the government of India to combat the novel coronavirus.

"The new dates of the Dr B R Ambedkar mega camp will be announced soon," Jaipur Foot USA chairman Prem Bhandari said.

Hundreds of differently-abled people from in and around the Bihar capital were slated to get artificial limbs and other equipment at the April 14 camp, which was being organised to mark the 129th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar.

The mission of Jaipur Foot is to provide prosthetic or artificial limbs, calipers and other physical aids and appliances free of charge to as many differently-abled people as possible, said D R Mehta, founder of Jaipur Foot's parent body Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), in a statement.

The camp was being organised by the BMVSS and the Bihar government.

The decision to postpone the camp has been done in consultation with the Bihar government.

Referring to a communication received from Principal Secretary to the Bihar Chief Minister Chanchal Kumar, Bhandari said so far 341 differently-abled persons have registered for the camp. "We were expecting that nearly 1,000 differently-abled people would have receive artificial limbs," he said.

The Jaipur Foot USA will also soon announce its dates for the next camp in Darjeeling, which will cater to the needs of the entire North East, Bhandari said.

The Patna camp is part of the series of three camps announced by Jaipur Foot USA during a seven-day photo exhibition and a day-long seminar in New York last April.

The first of these camps was held in Jamshedpur last year in the honour of the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.