Maharashtra is on third position in the country’s body organ donation map with neighbouring Gujarat climbing to the second spot, helped by an aggressive programme driven by the public sector.
While the state has a little over four months to reclaim its place, chances of toppling Gujarat, or the current leader in donations, Telangana, seem bleak at the current pace.
In the eight months of 2022, Maharashtra has seen only 52 cadaver donations, most of which came from Pune (24), followed by Mumbai (22). Nagpur and Aurangabad contributed five and one, respectively.
Before the pandemic hit in 2020, Maharashtra had carried out the highest donations in India—160 in 2019—raising hopes that the deceased donor programme had finally broken its inertia.
