Govt planning state honour for organ donors

BENGALURU: In recent years, many people are coming forward to pledge/donate their organs without expecting any reward. Now, the government has decided to implement a new policy on voluntarily organ donation in order to encourage more people to donate their organs.

Though there is a 60-70 per cent rise in people donating organs and enrolling for organ donation, there is a prejudice among people in rural areas about organ donation. To promote awareness and to encourage organ donation, the state government is planning to conduct the last rites of organ donors with all state government honours upon their death.

A similar policy is already in practice in Tamil Nadu and certificates are given to organ donors. Taking a leaf out of that book, certificates are also given to organ donors in Karnataka.

Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao noted that a person can save more than six lives after his death through organ donation and hundreds of patients can  get a new lease of life. “An organ donor has that much power. We are seriously considering having state funerals for organ donors and we are working on its execution. We are encouraging people to volunteer more in numbers to donate organs”, he said.