NEW DELHI, DEC 3: Many polio victims who could not even stand - who dragged themselves around on their knees, leaving the knee caps flat - are able to walk today. The credit goes to Polio Hospital in Udaipur whose team of three doctors performs about 20 corrective surgeries daily.The hospital - set up by charitable organisation Narayan Seva Sansthan - received the national award for welfare of persons with disability from Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi on the World Disability Day today.In all, three institutions, six individuals, 18 employees and two employers bagged awards in different categories. These awards are meant to encourage individuals and institutions who have worked devotedly for people with disabilities.Kailash Agarwal, founder of Narayan Seva Sansthan, here to collect the award on the organisation's behalf, says that he started by providing chapatis to attendants of poor patients in the Udaipur general hospital. ``The flour used to be collected from housewives who would each donate a spoonful daily,'' says Agarwal, a former accounts officer in the telecom department. He went on to collect Rs 3 crore through donations and the hospital was set up in 1985. So far, 11,800 corrective surgeries have been performed free of cost. ``The country has 80 lakh people who are disabled by polio. At least 50 per cent can walk again with or without crutches with corrective surgery,'' says Agarwal.For another winner today, 24-year-old polio victim Nitin Gaekwad, surgery has revived his right hand to some extent. He says his mother supported him through his ordeal and even used to carry him to school. ``The government has not started awards for mothers or she would have got it,'' says the young man who runs an STD booth and a pan shop, besides taking classes in tabla.Sree Ramana Press in Secunderabad is no ordinary printing press. It's founders, 55-year-old Shivrajayya and his son Bhim Shankar, decided to use their business to make mentally retarded people self-reliant. They began by training one person from the National Institute for Mentally Retarded in Hyderabad. Today, they have trained a total of 18 mentally retarded persons within a span of 12 years. While nine found jobs in their press, the rest have all been placed elsewhere. What inspired them? ``My father was concerned about them,'' says son Bhim Shankar, here to receive the national award for employers of disabled persons. Another benign employer of handicapped persons is wheelchair-bound P.C. Subbanna of Hyderabad. He makes wooden furniture.Kamlesh H.Shah, another winner, is almost totally disabled and cannot even sit up. He moves about on his buttocks. He has, however, done his chartered accountancy and today runs a firm with four employees.According to the Social Justice Ministry, many of the awards have no cash prizes and are only tokens of encouragement. As for the cash prizes, they are being divided equally among the winners so that there are no firsts, seconds or thirds. ``Every one of them is a winner, that is the spirit of the awards,'' a ministry spokesperson said.
