October 6, 2024

Man Walks Barefoot to Ensure Poor Walk Safely

India’s First ever Campaign to create mass awareness about this essential gear

Walking barefoot to a temple, in exchange for getting your wish fulfilled is a common sight in India. But you know why? Because its tough and painful! Now imagine the plight of those thousands of people who have to walk barefoot every single day, be it the scorching heat, rain or deadly winters! The irony here is that India is the second largest producer of footwear in the world.

To ensure people can walk safely and create mass awareness about this imperative but neglected issue, Mr. Joyappa Achaiah, Founder, Initiator and Creator of Safe Karnataka, Safe India launched a month long collection drive under the banner Barefoot India Campaign starting September 3rd.

To experience the hardship of such needy people, Mr. Joyappa himself went barefoot to work for 100 days staring from 1st May 2017 to 8th August 2017.

Speaking about the campaign, Mr. Joyappa says, “Other NGO’s are already working on issues like education, safety, women empowerment and the like, but something so basic such as footwear has never been highlighted. Protective gear for feet is an essential need and we as a team aim at collecting and distributing closely 10 crore footwear in a spam of less than 3 years.”

Walking barefoot is not just painful but it can have serious impacts on your health. It puts unnecessary stress on ankle and foot arch, exposes the foot skin to dust and allergens hence making the skin rough and hard with rashes. It can even tear the skin and also cause fungal infections. Walking barefoot also makes you more prone to Hookworm Infection, Cutaneous Larva Migrans, Tungiasis and Tetanus.

He added that though the campaign has begun from Karnataka, they  plan to expand this not just national but also international level.

Collection is majorly focused on IT parks , institutes and malls. People can donate their footwear and those in good condition shoes will be directly distributed to the poor and needy, while those which need repair will be refurbished before use.

Upcoming Campaigns under Barefoot India Campaign include a shoes and slipper collection drive from September 3rd to Oct 3rd October 2017 and a shot at Guinness Book of Records for a 100 ft rangoli of a bare foot.

They have also submitted a proposal to the Karnataka Government for a scheme named Paradharaksh Bhagya which can help closely 25 Lakh poor to get footwear’s and slippers.

For more details log on to http://www.safe-india.org/

Phone: 080-41737888 Mobile: +91-9980259781

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