WEB DESK
In a joint effort to support armed forces personnel and civilians with disabilities, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, and Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Defence, Premitha Bandara Thennakoon, launched a 55-day-long artificial limb camp at Ragama near Colombo yesterday. The initiative, organised by the Indian mission in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Ranawiru Sewa Authority and Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayta Samiti, aims to provide artificial limbs to 1000 Sri Lankan beneficiaries.
The camp, which kicked off with the participation of eight Indian experts in artificial limb production, will be held in Colombo and Vavuniya. It targets providing limbs to 375 Army, 75 Air Force, Navy, and police personnel, along with 200 civilians. This bilateral cooperation underscores the commitment of both nations to assist those who have sacrificed for national security and are now facing challenges due to disabilities. It may be recalled that BMVSS had organised four such camps in Sri Lanka earlier: Vavuniya in March–April 2010; Jaffna in September 2011; and Colombo and Jaffna in February 2022. More than 3100 people had then benefited from these camps, with more than 2200 alone getting the ‘Jaipur Foot’.