'I lived in fear of amputation': How road accident inspired ex-SEBI chief to bring artificial limbs to millions

Best foot forward: Devendra Raj Mehta is credited for making the Jaipur Foot a household name


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A trauma can also serve as an inspiration and take you to great heights. Devendra Raj Mehta, a former IAS officer who retired as the chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2002, is an example.

Mehta, 76, is the man behind Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) - an NGO which is today the world's largest organisation for disabled people.

He has held several important positions in the Rajasthan government and Centre. He even served as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India after taking charge as the SEBI chairman.

Mehta, the founder and patron of BMVSS, also got credit for making the Jaipur Foot - the artificial limb - a household name across the world.

All this began way back in 1969 when Mehta was the district collector of Jaisalmer.

"I broke my right femur (thigh bone) in a road accident. I lived under constant fear of getting my leg amputated during my treatment but luckily I didn't have to. It was during this period that I realised the agony of those who lose their legs. This gave birth to the idea of BMVSS," Mehta told Mail Today.

BMVSS, with its headquarters in Jaipur, became a reality in 1975 - seven years after the Jaipur Foot, a rubber-based prosthetic leg, was conceived and developed at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in 1968.

BMVSS has travelled a long way since its inception. It has so far benefited more than 1.35 million people, free of cost, by organising camps and imparting training in over two dozen countries.

Mehta's day starts at 10am at the Samiti's centre at the SMS Hospital, where he oversees work for about an hour.

From there he drives to the Samiti's headquarters in Malviya Nagar, where he calls up people across the world to meet beneficiaries, arrange camps and other oversees work, till around 7.30pm.

He believes that the Jaipur Foot could be made a part of country's foreign policy.

"It has probably earned India more appreciation than any amount of diplomacy…" he said, quoting an article in a Pakistan-based newspaper.

Factory floor: Mehta supervises the workshop where the Jaipur Foot - the artificial limb - is manufactured

Personal touch: D R Mehta talks to patients at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Hospital

Source : Mail Online India , 1st December 2013