Jaipur Foot to be Harvard Business School case study

Jaipur, Aug 17 - Jaipur Foot, the artificial limb which helped over 13 lakh people walk again, will soon become a case study for students of Harvard Business School in the United States. The study on Jaipur foot as a business and healthcare model prepared by the university is ready and will be introduced tentatively next month in the University. Physically challenged, particularly financially weak and underprivileged, people are helped with the Jaipur Foot by NGO, Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayta Samit (BMVSS), which manufactures the artificial limb and is the world's biggest organisation for disabled. The foot, which costs around Rs 2,500, is given free to patients by the samiti which was set by Devendra Raj Mehta over three decades ago. It also makes arrangements for accommodation of patients coming from outstations. ÒIn the study by the business school, areas like creation of the model and its system, its sustainability, patient centric management, technology and financial management have been covered,Ó Mehta, chief patron of the organisation, told PTI today. The study is conducted by Prof Srikant Datar, an Indan American professor at Harvard Business School under India Research programme. ÒAround 60,000 people visit our center annually and 24-25,000 people are fitted with the Jaipur Foot. We have fitted close to 1.35 million people with the artificial limb so far. This gives mobility and dignity to disabled,Ó Mehta, former SEBI Chief, said. ÒWe have a patient centric system and give the foot free of cost to all patients. We have open door facility and a patient is first admitted then he is registered,Ó he said. Mehta, who has been selected by the state government of Rajasthan for Rajasthan Ratna Award for his contribution in social service, said that the insight of the system would help business students understand how such a low-cost product could be sustained. BMVSS, set up in 1975, has rehabilitated more than 1.3 million amputees and polio patients by providing artificial limbs (Jaipur Foot variations), calipers, and other aids and appliances, mostly in India and also in 26 countries across the world. The organisation also has agreements with Stanford University- USA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - USA, Indian Space Research Organisation, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Jodhpur for research and development.