JAIPUR Foot USA, which rehabilitates disabled people, on Wednesday (16) organised a virtual event to flag off the launch of a mobile van in the western Indian state of Gujarat to give free prosthetic fitments for the differently-abled. The event took place on the occasion of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday which falls on Friday (17).
Dr H R Nagendra, chancellor of Bangalore’s Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA) and also an eminent yoga guru and Devendra Raj Mehta, the founder and chief patron of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), flagged off the van.
Mehta, who is a recipient of India’s prestigious Padma Bhushan Award, said they were doing it to celebrate the special occasion of the prime minister turning 71 on September 17.
The van, with eight qualified prosthetics professionals from BMVSS, Jaipur in Rajasthan, will leave for its first destination Vadnagar, the birthplace of Modi.
Mehta highlighted the significance of the van helping differently-abled people, particularly in times of the coronavirus pandemic. The van will subsequently travel to other districts and towns in Gujarat.
Praising the initiative to take fitment camps to the doorstep of the needy, Nagendra said an artificial limb fitment camp can be organised in Bangalore as well following which a permanent centre can be established at the university premises to provide round-the-year help to differently-abled people in the southern Indian state of Karnataka of which Bangalore is the capital.
Jaipur Foot USA chairman Prem Bhandari called the mobile van initiative as a “unique and innovative” effort by Jaipur Foot USA and BMVSS to address the prosthetics fitment problem for people from the lower economic strata of society.
The mobile van will be equipped with machines to fit artificial limbs to 7-10 people a day, a press release said.
Bhandari said as part of this mission, BMVSS has committed to help a minimum of 71 differently-abled people, a symbolic number to celebrate the prime minister turning 71.
The mobile van camp will be inaugurated by Modi’s elder brother Somabhai Modi on September 17 and will be held at Sarvodaya Sewa Trust, Vadnagar, Bhandari said.
New York-based youngster Nikhil Mehta had come up with the idea of the mobile vans.
The BMVSS fitted 31,753 prosthetics in India and 5,783 artificial limbs abroad in 2019-20 compared to the International Council of Red Cross figure, which is 4,839 for the same duration worldwide under the Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) programme, the release said.
Jaipur Foot USA organised a similar event on Modi’s birthday last year as well.
A 1996 photo of rapper Tupac Shakur (L) and Marion "Suge" Knight is shown on screens during closing arguments in the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 31, 2026. Getty Images
A rescuer assists a resident through heavy mud following flash floods on August 27, 2026 in Trishuli, Nepal. A sudden flood swept through the Bhote Koshi River basin in northern Rasuwa on August 26, damaging settlements, roads and energy infrastructure as rescue teams searched for residents and foreign travellers reported out of contact. Hundreds were reported missing, as the death toll started to climb.Getty Images
Rescue personnel provide medical treatment to a child at an army rescue camp in Trishuli Batar, Nepal, on August 27, 2026. A sudden flood swept through the Bhote Koshi River basin in northern Rasuwa on August 26, damaging settlements, roads and energy infrastructure, as rescue teams searched for residents and foreign travellers reported out of contact. Hundreds were reported missing as the death toll began to climb. Getty Ima
Family members of missing flood victims react at the emergency ward of the Maharajgunj Medical Campus, part of the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, on August 28, 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Authorities said the flash floods were triggered after a mass of ice, mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river near the Nepal-China border, leaving hundreds dead or missing and causing widespread damage in affected districts. Authorities continued the gruelling search for victims, many buried under metres of mud, as both China and Nepal issued fresh flooding alerts.Getty Images