Rotary International has announced a grant of Rs 1.34 crore to Narayan Seva Sansthan (NSS) to start a unit in India that will manufacture and supply prosthetics and orthotics for the differently abled.

NSS is an organisation in India that works for the wellbeing of differently-abled people and the underprivileged. The prosthetics and orthotics will be distributed free of cost through remote camps in India conducted by NSS.

The Central Fabrication Unit will be based in India and will manufacture and supply prosthetics and orthotics for the differently abled.

According to a media release on Wednesday, NSS initiated a campaign under the name ‘SEVA PROJECT’ in Georgia, Atlanta, USA through children; to raise funds for the differently abled in the year 2019.

Through this campaign, children raised funds through community service where they sold sodas, tea, samosas, popcorn and even explained about ‘SEVA PROJECT’ by giving ‘HUGS FOR FREE’.

Sparsh Shah, a global icon and a motivator for the differently abled children and people joined this campaign to further raise funds. Through Sparsh the ‘SEVA PROJECT’ could accumulate USD 40,000.

“We are proud of our summer campers for initiating SEVA PROJECT’ and grateful to Rotary Club of Emory Druid of Hills who take the project at the global level,” said Amit Shah, president Gujarati Cultural Association of North America.

It all started when young children in Atlanta Georgia during their 2019 summer vacation decided to dedicate their fun time for doing something good for humanity.

They got organised and called it a ‘SEVA PROJECT’. Around 350 summer campers of Gujarati Cultural Association of North America undertook this as a challenge to collect funds so they can transform lives of differently abled by way of providing corrective surgeries or provide artificial limbs.

Narayan Seva Sansthan has been working towards the upliftment of the differently abled individual’s right since its inception, said Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta.

“The Central Fabrication Unit will manufacture and supply Prosthetics and Orthotics free of cost through campaigns conducted by NSS. We are really proud of the young children who have driven this campaign to raise funds. We as an organisation stand in support of the efforts of NSS,” he said.

“SEVA PROJECT’ was successfully completed after two years” efforts of teams, finally the project was approved and supported financially with a tremendous support of Rotary International and Rotary Foundation, the media release said.

Prashant Agarwal, president, NSS thanked Rotary International to stand in support of this campaign.

“We are delighted that our efforts have borne fruits which would be beneficial for the differently abled. We are happy with the announcement of the launch of the Central Fabrication Unit which would massively create opportunities for the differently abled candidates in the near future. The prosthetics and orthotics distributed will be Free-of-Cost,” he said.

Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbours, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.

Their mission is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders, according to its website.