The Constitution of India states that the primary duty of the government is to raise the people’s standard of living, to ensure proper nutrition and to improve public health. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare at the Centre helps the state governments in this regard. 

(i) To make primary health services as well as medical care available to rural people, the tribals and the poor was an objective of the Sixth Five Year plan. Efforts were made towards helping people maintain good health by giving recognition to Unani, Homoeopathy, Ayurveda and Naturopathy in addition to Allopathy. 

(ii) In 1962, the first successful open heart surgery was performed under the leadership of Dr N. Gopinath at Christian Medical College Hospital at Vellore in Tamil Nadu. Hence, it is no longer necessary to go abroad for such treatment. 

(iii) The invention of the ‘Jaipur Foot’ has transformed the lives of the disabled in India.

(iv) Before 1968, if a person lost a leg in an accident, he had to suffer for the rest of his life. In order to remedy the situation, Dr Pramod Sethi designed and manufactured artificial limbs, noses and ears, with the help of the skilled craftsman Ramchandra Sharma. 

(v) These artificial body parts manufactured with the help of the Jaipur foot technology have made it easy for the differently-abled to walk bare-foot on rough surfaces, run, go cycling, work in the fields, climb trees, and even climb mountains, etc. 

(vi) They save on the expenses on shoes as there is no need for footwear on these artificial limbs. They can bend their legs at the knees and sit crosslegged. 

(vii) These feet are also convenient while working in water or under wet conditions.