Despite his disability, he wages war on HIV

When you think of ailments and the responsibility of spreading awareness about them, the first thing that comes to mind is NGOs. Little would one expect that a man with 80% physical disability would go from village to village for a cause of this sort!

However, 40-year old Amrut Desai, a supervisor of drainage department of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda), is doing a great job of creating awareness about AIDS, despite his disability.

Desai visits various villages in Gujarat, where he conducts programmes on AIDS and educates villagers regarding the same.

“I have, till date, visited 21 villages in the state to create awareness about AIDS,” says this man with a mission. What is even more interesting that he prefers to travel everywhere on his specially-made two-wheeler. 

Desai creates AIDS awareness by handing out leaflets to villagers and speaking to them about the causes of the ailment. And today, on the occasion of World AIDS Day, he has planned to visit Dholka town and its neighbouring villages.

Seven years ago, Desai lost both his legs in a train accident, and it is Jaipur feet that carry him everywhere now. However, the man is undaunted.

“I usually get no funds from NGOs for this work. And then, there are times when all this traveling (to various villages) makes me miss office, and I have to suffer pay cuts.

“In Auda, we are supposed to work 24 days in order to get a full month’s salary. But sometimes my attendance comes down to 20 days a month. That, however, does not dissuade me from working for human cause,” he says.

So then, how did he get started with the cause in the first place?

“Several myths and misconceptions exist about AIDS. Once, I was reading about these in a booklet, and I realised that the poor and the downtrodden need to be made aware about all these, since they have little access to such books and material,” he says.

Revealing his future plans, he says: “I wish to continue the good work, and I will travel to other states.”