?Bharat Vikas Parishad has truly been rendering great services for the uplift of the society. The artificial limbs distributed by the Parishad today are not only very useful but also good in quality. I was not aware that the Parishad has been rendering such great services to the physically challenged persons. Its efforts are really praiseworthy,? said Smt. Meira Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, while distributing artificial limbs to physically challenged persons on December 9 in New Delhi. The Parishad distributed 1250 artificial limbs including tricycles, wheel chairs, hearing aid and others. Shri Mahesh Chandra Sharma, president of Bharat Vikas Parishad, North Delhi, presided over the ceremony.
Smt. Kumar further said the huge gathering in this function shows how deeply people are involved in social activities. She said her ministry provides help to all those who are working for rehabilitation of physically challenged persons.
Shri Mahesh Chandra Sharma said the Bharat Vikas Parishad was founded in 1963 and it has today more than 63,000 members involved in social service with full dedication. He pointed out that the Parishad has so far distributed artificial limbs worth Rs 25 crore to more than 25 lakh physically challenged persons. He said the Parishad started rehabilitation of the physically challenged persons as a national project in 1990 and today it runs 13 help centers and 98 rehabilitation centers, which provide artificial limbs to about 20,000 physically challenged persons annually at free of cost.
Shri Ravindra Gupta, chairman of Viklang Samiti pointed out that the artificial limbs are made by trained technicians and with the good quality raw material. The patriotic songs, sung by noted singer Shri Pankaj Jeswani, were applauded by the audience. Former Governor of Goa Shri Kidarnath Sahani, chairman of Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology Shri Nandkishor Garg, MCD councilors Smt. Savita Gupta and Anju Jain were also present on the occasion. (FOC)
