Sambalpur, Sept 3: Odisha’s first Silicon Cosmetic Restoration Laboratory, established in Sambalpur to provide advanced artificial external limbs to persons with disabilities, is facing uncertainty over its continued operation. The facility, inaugurated in 2021, had initially provided artificial limbs to a limited number of beneficiaries. However, the laboratory is currently unable to function as planned due to a lack of necessary infrastructure, equipment and manpower.
The laboratory was proposed in 2018 by the District Disability Empowerment Department and was launched at the Regional Centre for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (RCDR) in Sambalpur as the state’s first such project. The state government had sanctioned around ₹10 lakh for the project, of which approximately ₹8 lakh was spent on the initial setup. After nearly three years of preparations, the facility was inaugurated in 2021.
The laboratory was designed to manufacture highly advanced artificial external body parts, including hands, legs, noses, eyes, fingers and nails, using a silicon cosmetic system. The technology was intended to replicate the beneficiary’s natural skin tone, shape and size, giving the artificial body parts a more realistic appearance.
Under the system, measurements of the beneficiary were taken before the artificial limb or body part was prepared. The process could reportedly be completed within around a week. Persons officially recognised as having disabilities could apply for the facility with valid disability certificates and receive the artificial body parts free of cost.
During its initial phase, around 20 persons with disabilities, including several children from different districts of Odisha, received artificial body parts through the centre.
However, the laboratory later moved away from its original objective. A Multipurpose Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities has now been established at Balibandha in Sambalpur, where the laboratory is planned to operate. But construction of the multi-storey rehabilitation centre has not yet been fully completed, leaving the laboratory waiting for a permanent and functional setup.
The delay has also raised concerns over the expensive machinery and equipment purchased during the laboratory’s initial establishment. With the equipment remaining largely unused, there are concerns that valuable machinery worth several lakh rupees could deteriorate over time.
Sambalpur District Social Security Officer Sourachandra Pani, however, said that the process of preparing and providing artificial limbs to persons with disabilities is still continuing. According to him, eligible beneficiaries can continue to receive artificial limbs and there is currently no major problem in the preparation process.
He further said that once the under-construction rehabilitation centre at Balibandha is handed over to the department, the artificial limb production and distribution process will be expanded on a larger scale.
