Rajasthan occupies a unique place in the history of prosthetics and orthotics. Jaipur gave its name to one of the world’s best-known low-cost prosthetic feet, while Udaipur has become home to another major charitable rehabilitation organisation serving people with disabilities from across India.
This international recognition, however, tells only part of the story. Rajasthan is India’s largest state by area, covering 342,239 square kilometres and containing more than 44,000 villages. Its population was approximately 68.5 million at the 2011 Census and has grown considerably since then. Long travel distances, dispersed communities and difficult terrain can make continuing prosthetic, orthotic and rehabilitation care challenging outside the principal cities.
Rajasthan therefore combines globally recognised innovation with an important domestic challenge: converting expertise concentrated in Jaipur, Udaipur and other urban centres into consistent, multidisciplinary and patient-centred services across the state.
Disability and rehabilitation demand
According to the 2011 Census, Rajasthan had 1,563,694 persons with disabilities. This represented approximately 2.28% of the state’s population at the time.
The figure should now be treated as a historical baseline rather than a current estimate. It predates the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, which expanded India’s recognised disability categories, and does not fully capture people who remain undiagnosed, uncertified or unable to access assessment services. Updated disability data would help Rajasthan plan its rehabilitation workforce, assistive-product supply and district-level services more accurately.
Demand for prosthetic and orthotic care in Rajasthan arises from several areas:
- Road-traffic and railway injuries
- Agricultural, construction and industrial accidents
- Mining-related injuries
- Diabetes and peripheral arterial disease
- Stroke and other neurological conditions
- Cerebral palsy and childhood developmental conditions
- Clubfoot and congenital limb differences
- Spinal cord injury
- Osteoarthritis and age-related mobility loss
- Residual effects of poliomyelitis
- Burns, infections and traumatic deformities
The state’s climate, geography and patterns of daily life also influence device design. People may need to walk on uneven rural surfaces, work in high temperatures and dusty environments, use floor-level toilets, sit cross-legged or squat during occupational and domestic activities.
These realities make durability, repairability, heat management, footwear compatibility and functional range particularly important during prosthetic and orthotic prescription.
Jaipur Foot and Rajasthan’s international contribution
Rajasthan’s most prominent contribution to prosthetics is the Jaipur Foot. Developed in 1968, the design became known for combining affordability and durability with functions relevant to everyday life in India and other lower-resource settings.
Unlike a conventional rigid prosthetic foot intended primarily for shoe use, the Jaipur Foot was designed to accommodate activities such as barefoot walking, squatting and sitting cross-legged. It also provided an accessible alternative for people who could not afford imported prosthetic components.
The technology became closely associated with the Jaipur-based Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, or BMVSS. Registered in 1975, BMVSS provides artificial limbs, calipers, wheelchairs, tricycles, crutches and other assistive products without charging its beneficiaries.
The organisation reports that it has supported more than two million people and operates through a network of centres in India as well as international fitment camps. Its Jaipur headquarters includes prosthetic and orthotic fabrication, physiotherapy, training, research, quality-control and patient-support activities.
BMVSS has demonstrated how locally appropriate engineering, charitable funding and high-volume service delivery can expand access to assistive technology. It has also helped establish Rajasthan as an internationally recognised centre of frugal rehabilitation innovation.
Its work should nevertheless be viewed within the complete rehabilitation pathway. Successful prosthetic care involves more than producing and fitting a limb. It also requires:
- Clinical and functional assessment
- Residual-limb management
- Individual component selection
- Socket comfort and biomechanical alignment
- Gait training
- Patient education
- Maintenance and repair
- Outcome measurement
- Long-term review as the person’s body and circumstances change
The future opportunity is to combine the accessibility and cultural relevance demonstrated by Jaipur Foot with increasingly individualised clinical assessment, documented outcomes and appropriate access to different component choices.
Narayan Seva Sansthan in Udaipur
Udaipur is home to Narayan Seva Sansthan, another prominent organisation supporting persons with disabilities through treatment, artificial-limb provision and social rehabilitation.
The organisation provides corrective surgery, physiotherapy, calipers, mobility products and artificial limbs through what it describes as the Narayan Limb process. Its broader model also includes transport assistance, vocational education, skills training, self-employment support, education and community participation.
Narayan Seva Sansthan reports having completed more than 455,000 corrective procedures and distributed more than 400,000 calipers, 276,000 tricycles and 40,000 artificial limbs. These are organisation-reported cumulative figures and extend beyond Rajasthan, but they demonstrate the scale of the rehabilitation ecosystem developed from Udaipur.
A particularly important feature of this model is its recognition that mobility is only one part of rehabilitation. A well-fitted orthosis or prosthesis may enable movement, but participation also depends on education, employment, confidence, family support, an accessible environment and social acceptance.
For Rajasthan, Narayan Seva Sansthan represents an important example of how clinical intervention, assistive technology and socioeconomic rehabilitation can be connected.
CRC Jaipur strengthens the public rehabilitation network
A significant recent development is the establishment of the Composite Regional Centre for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in Jaipur.
CRC Jaipur has been operational since April 2024 under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It functions under the administrative control of the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Institute for Persons with Physical Disabilities in New Delhi.
The centre currently operates from temporary premises at Samajik Nyay Sankul in Jamdoli. The Rajasthan Government has allocated 2.47 acres for a permanent facility, with the proposed building estimated at ₹29.97 crore.
CRC Jaipur provides:
- Prosthetic and orthotic support
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech and language services
- Hearing screening
- Special education
- Academic assessment
- Indian Sign Language services
- Assistive devices for persons with disabilities and senior citizens
- Community-based rehabilitation support
- Internships and continuing rehabilitation education
The centre reports serving 13,052 beneficiaries and distributing 11,603 aids and appliances during 2024–25. It has also established links with more than 50 NGOs, educational institutions and universities.
Its current long-term Rehabilitation Council of India-approved programmes are the Diploma in Indian Sign Language Interpretation and Certificate Programme in Community-Based Inclusive Development. CRC Jaipur does not presently list a Bachelor or Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics programme.
The centre has the potential to become an important public-sector hub for referrals, professional development, interdisciplinary coordination and technical support to district services. Its long-term impact will depend on whether its capabilities extend beyond Jaipur through outreach, referral networks and partnerships with local providers.
Hospitals and multidisciplinary rehabilitation
Government medical colleges and tertiary hospitals in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota, Bikaner and Ajmer are central to Rajasthan’s rehabilitation pathway. They manage many of the conditions that lead to prosthetic and orthotic referrals, including trauma, amputation, stroke, spinal injury, cerebral palsy, diabetic complications and musculoskeletal deformity.
Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur is an important tertiary referral institution. In 2026, the hospital’s rehabilitation centre reportedly introduced AI-supported robotic physiotherapy for people with spinal cord injuries and paralysis.
Technology can increase therapy intensity and provide structured feedback, but it should form part of a coordinated rehabilitation programme. Patients may require collaboration between physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, surgeons, prosthetists and orthotists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists and social workers.
The referral connection between acute hospitals and prosthetic or orthotic services is particularly important. A person undergoing amputation should ideally enter rehabilitation before surgery or soon afterwards, rather than being discharged and left to locate an artificial-limb provider independently.
A complete pathway should include pre-amputation counselling, residual-limb care, contracture prevention, functional assessment, prosthetic prescription, gait training and long-term follow-up.
District-level rehabilitation
District Disability Rehabilitation Centres are intended to bring assessment, therapy, assistive products, referral and community rehabilitation closer to local populations.
Central government records historically approved DDRCs in the Rajasthan districts of:
- Ajmer
- Bikaner
- Jaisalmer
- Jalore
- Jhunjhunu
- Jodhpur
- Pali
- Tonk
- Udaipur
Additional districts were later identified for expansion. However, approval or establishment on paper does not necessarily confirm that a centre currently has the multidisciplinary staff, workshop capacity, materials and funding required to provide regular prosthetic and orthotic services.
Current operational status should therefore be verified district by district.
This is especially important in Rajasthan because a centralised model places a substantial burden on rural patients. Receiving a prosthesis or orthosis may require several visits for assessment, casting or scanning, trial fitting, delivery and gait training. Children and people with changing medical conditions require further reviews.
District services do not all need complete fabrication workshops. A more practical network could combine:
- Regional fabrication hubs
- District assessment and fitting clinics
- Mobile outreach teams
- Local repair and maintenance points
- Tele-rehabilitation support
- Defined referral routes for complex cases
This would allow specialised fabrication to remain concentrated while bringing essential clinical contact and aftercare closer to the patient.
P&O education and workforce development
Rajasthan’s rehabilitation capacity depends on qualified professionals as much as buildings and equipment.
Students considering prosthetics and orthotics education should verify that a programme is recognised for the relevant academic year by the Rehabilitation Council of India. Similarly, employers and healthcare institutions should distinguish qualified prosthetists and orthotists from technicians trained only for limited fabrication or repair tasks.
Rajasthan needs workforce development at several levels:
- Bachelor-qualified prosthetists and orthotists
- Postgraduate clinicians and educators
- Workshop technicians
- Physiotherapists and occupational therapists with rehabilitation experience
- Rehabilitation engineers
- Community-based rehabilitation workers
- Diabetic-foot and wound-care teams
- Assistive-technology service and repair personnel
Jaipur Foot, Narayan Seva Sansthan, CRC Jaipur, medical colleges and professional associations collectively create a strong environment for clinical exposure and continuing education. Greater coordination among these institutions could support internships, competency-based workshops, research projects and standardised referral protocols.
Key challenges
Distance and continuity of care
Rajasthan’s size makes follow-up difficult. Travel costs, lost wages and the need for an accompanying family member can prevent patients from returning for adjustment or repair.
Concentration of expertise
The state’s best-known services are centred in Jaipur and Udaipur. People in western, northern and tribal districts may have fewer choices and longer referral journeys.
Camp-based provision
Fitment camps can identify unmet need and provide devices quickly, but they must include clinical screening, safe prescription, documentation and a route for follow-up. Device distribution without continuing care can result in abandonment, discomfort or secondary complications.
Diabetic-foot prevention
The increasing burden of diabetes creates a need for protective footwear, total-contact insoles, offloading devices, wound-care pathways and vascular referral. P&O professionals should be included before ulceration progresses to avoidable amputation.
Paediatric follow-up
Children with cerebral palsy, clubfoot, scoliosis or limb difference require repeated review as they grow. A device supplied once cannot be considered a completed intervention.
Component affordability
Free and low-cost systems remain essential, but patients should have access to clinically appropriate choices where possible. More advanced knees, feet, upper-limb systems and orthotic joints remain unaffordable for many families.
Outcome measurement
Large numbers of devices supplied do not by themselves establish clinical success. Rajasthan’s providers would benefit from consistently tracking comfort, use, mobility, participation, repairs, first-fit success and device abandonment.
Priorities for Rajasthan
Rajasthan already possesses institutions with national and international reputations. Its next stage of development should focus on connecting these assets into a stronger statewide system.
Priority actions could include:
- Establish Jaipur as a coordinated apex centre for complex rehabilitation, training and referral.
- Strengthen regional hubs in Udaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner and Ajmer.
- Publish current information on the staffing and services available at each DDRC.
- Develop district-level repair and follow-up services so patients do not need to travel to Jaipur for routine adjustments.
- Integrate prosthetists and orthotists into trauma, orthopaedic, neurological, paediatric and diabetic-foot teams.
- Create a statewide pre-prosthetic and post-amputation rehabilitation pathway.
- Expand preventive diabetic-foot screening and orthotic offloading services.
- Use digital scanning and central fabrication where they reduce travel and turnaround without removing clinical oversight.
- Establish paediatric orthotic review schedules linked to schools, hospitals and early-intervention services.
- Measure functional outcomes and device use rather than reporting distribution numbers alone.
Outlook
Rajasthan has made an exceptional contribution to global prosthetics through the Jaipur Foot. It also hosts major charitable rehabilitation programmes, an emerging Composite Regional Centre and a broad network of public hospitals and disability organisations.
The central challenge is no longer simply whether Rajasthan can manufacture and distribute assistive devices. It is whether every person who needs prosthetic or orthotic care can access assessment, an appropriate device, rehabilitation, maintenance and long-term review—regardless of where they live or their ability to pay.
By combining its tradition of affordable innovation with qualified clinical practice, stronger district networks, preventive care and systematic outcome measurement, Rajasthan can develop a rehabilitation model that is not only internationally recognised but consistently accessible throughout the state.
- Bharat CPO State Profiles
- Rajasthan at a Glance – Government of Rajasthan
- Census of India: Disability Data for Rajasthan
- Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti – Jaipur Foot
- Narayan Seva Sansthan
- Composite Regional Centre Jaipur
- Rajasthan Department of Specially Abled Persons
- Rehabilitation Council of India: Approved Institutions
- Assistance to Disabled Persons Scheme
- Unique Disability ID Portal