Andhra Pradesh - Nalgonda   

Standing tall, thanks to the President

S. Ramu

Kalam behind the light-weight caliper for polio-affected

LENDING A HAND: Dr Chandrasekhar of NIMS fitting the light-weight caliper on a polio-affected girl at a camp in Nalgonda on Sunday.

NALGONDA: Project Director, District Rural Development Agency, (DRDA) Sunita M. Bhagwat was moved by the plight of 15-year-old Mallesh, a polio-affected boy, at Valigonda recently. He was literally crawling.

The IFS officer asked her staff to bring him to the camp to fit the light-weight caliper on him. They followed her instructions and now, the boy can stand on his own feet. The camp is being jointly organised by the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, NATCO Trust and the DRDA.

Camp helps many

"This is a satisfying moment for me. Thanks to the project, we are able help many polio-affected children. The caliper, called Knee Floor Reaction Orthosis, developed by the Missile Man of India, made the lives of physically challenged very easy," Ms. Sunita said on Sunday.

Of the 59 mandals in the district 36 have already been covered by the project under Indira Kranthi Patham. "Of the 1778 physically challenged persons we screened, 927 persons are identified as polio-affected persons and 569 have been recommended for FRO calipers," the Collector, K. Vijayanand, said.

As many as 524 persons are fitted with calipers and 358 members were recommended for surgical correction. The fitment camp is being run under the supervision of Senior Orthopaedic Engineer, Orthopaedic technicians and four physiotherapists. "The NATCO Trust officials met me three months ago and the fitment is going on in a rapid pace," Mr. Vijayanand said. The screening camps were organised from November 19 to December 10, 2005 on the premises of the primary health centres and the identified persons were brought to the fitment camp conducted at TTDC in the district headquarters.

Caliper news

The calipers are in a modular form and available in various sizes. The composite material, which is used in missile making, reduces the weight of calipers. They are durable, strong, light weight (300 grams) and less expensive when s compared to the conventional ones.

A beneficiary, Soujanya (21) of Miryalaguda, says that the caliper has lessened burden on her legs. "I can attend to my daily chores with ease," she said. She does not fail to say special thanks to the President APJ Abdul Kalam, who will meet the beneficiaries at NG College grounds on Monday.

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