A Social Movement initiated by Dr. Shreedhar Archik arising out of his desire to donate his skills for the benefit of poor and deserving people.

In India more than 55% of individuals above the age of 55 years suffer from knee arthritis. Many of these patients eventually need a joint replacement surgery.

29% of our population is below the poverty line and can not afford the joint replacement surgery. If we do not cut corners and offer these patients a state of art surgery using best implants and computer assisted surgery the cost is around 2 lakh rupees. Knee and Hip arthritis have a crippling effect on the patient and many of our poor patients have to give up their job because of the crippling nature of the disease. Many get depressed and turn suicidal.

I have been extensively trained in the field of joint replacement surgery. While treating patients of knee arthritis over the last decade I have seen the joy on patient’s face that undergoes joint replacement surgery. I started working for these "below the poverty line" patients and have met so many patients who were totally depressed because of their disability. These patients today are back to normal. A 21 year old villager was on the verge of committing suicide before he was referred for an operation. Now he is employed after the hip replacement surgery and leading a productive life.

These patients have stimulated me to start a trust for economically backward patients. Instead of starting a new trust we have joined hands with the Pune based The Nav Maharashtra Community Foundation (NAVAM). Navam has helped me in concretizing my idea.

The funds raised for JRF will be parked with Navam. The legal formalities necessary for a trust will be complied by Navam and Navam would extend the its legal incentives to JRF. This is a unique feature of the community foundation and JRF is one of the first such donor designated fund created in India. Navam is managed by a group of respected individuals from different fields like, education, media, business, law etc, who have wide experience in the field of philanthropy and social development. Dr Nirmala Pandit is the Managing Trustee and Ms Anu Aga is the Chairperson of Navam.

Navam would also help in Identifying / Verifying the background of the patients. Dr Archik would carry out the operations free of charge for the identified patients. The JRF would cover the cost of implants, drugs and hospital charges.

The routine paperwork like filing income tax returns etc will be done by NAVAM. My primary commitment is to operate on these patients free of charge and to generate more and more funds for the project.

All the Donors will be benefited by the income tax exemption under S. (80G) and will accept donations in the form of checks only. (check should be drawn in favour of "The Nav Maharashtra Community Foundation - JRF"). A report on how the funds are spent will be given to the donors at the end of every financial year.

Please visit the NAVAM Website : http://www.navam.net for further information.

Please donate whatever amount you can so that we can help our fellow citizens who need our help to overcome disability.

Dr. Nirmala Pandit is the managing Trustee of The Nav Maharashtra Community Foundation (NAVAM). She has Ph. D. in Human Rights and has taught in the University of Pune. She has held responsible posts in the International Commission of Jurist and in the UN, Geneva.

Dr. Shreedhar Archik has been trained at the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre, Oxford and has served as a lecturer in the department of Orthopedics, Oxford University. His basic orthopedic training is from the KEM Hospital, Mumbai. He has been certified by the European Surgical Institute at Hamburg for the use of Computer navigation in the field of joint replacement surgery. He has performed more than 1000 knee and more than 500 hip replacement surgeries. He is attached to Lilavati and Shushrusha Hospitals, Mumbai. He routinely performs 5 joint replacement surgeries every month free of cost.