By
The villagers who lost their legs in the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts triggered by the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in insurgency hit areas, walked happily getting a new hope overcoming disability with transplanted artificial limbs in the initiative taken by the Chhattisgarh government.
In the first phase, as many as six persons, who are victims of Maoist violence, were trained to walk with artificial legs under supervision of experts at the Physical Referral Rehabilitation Centre in Raipur.
Many more such sufferers will get registered as the beneficiaries to receive the prosthetic legs in future.
Villagers sustained serious injuries in the planted pressure IED when they accidentally stepped on it. There have also been instances when the left-wing extremists ambushed private vehicles by detonating an IED, as was seen in Dantewada in August 2021 when one civilian was killed and 11 others injured.
“Getting a new limb is like a fresh start for me with renewed hope as I was dependent on others for my mobility after losing my leg in an IED blast”, said Sukki Madkam from an edgy district of Sukma, south Bastar, after receiving artificial legs and walking on her own.
“We are thrilled to move ahead in life and feel more independent. Our gratitude to the initiative taken at the behest of our chief minister Vishnu Deo Saiji”, Ayalam Mara shared his feeling while getting trained with the new prosthetic leg at Samaj Kalyan Parisar in Raipur.
The artificial limbs were provided to the victims by the social welfare department of the state government. The beneficiary recipients can now conveniently engage in their daily routine works besides collecting forest produce or farming, the officials said.
Many villagers, mostly tribals in Maoist-affected districts of Chhattisgarh, continue to endure painful life losing their legs in the IED explosions.
During the anti-Maoist operations in the conflict-ridden zone, the IEDs remain the easiest weapon for the banned outfit to inflict damage on the security forces and the local villagers who become soft targets in such explosions planted surreptitiously in the forested terrain.
