Bihar should set up eye bank and transplant centre at all medical colleges: BJP Leader

Patna: Senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi suggested the Bihar government to set up eye bank and transplant centre in all government and private medical colleges of the state.

Speaking at a function organised by Dadhichi Deh Daan Samiti which propagate organ donation, Modi said there is only one eye bank and transplant centre in the state at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna.

Asking people to come forward to take a pledge to donate their organ/body to give a "gift of life" to others even after their deaths, Modi said, "Pledge your organs and live a second life by giving a gift of life to others through organ donation. This is the only way one can play second innings even after one's death".

Modi also asked the representatives of around 20 social organisations gathered on the occasion to convince people about the importance of organ donation.

He asked those who filled up the form pledging to donate organ, to also convince their family members to do so.

Modi, the former Deputy Chief Minister, asked the state government to set up a transplant institute either at IGIMS or PMCH in order to train doctors for giving brainstem death certificate for retrieval of organs and transplantation.

The senior BJP leader, who has been actively associated with Samiti for three years, said that he had a talk with Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, who has assured him (Modi) that the government would soon come out with a legislation which would make mandatory to mention on driving license whether or not the driver wants to donate his/her organ.

Stating that Bharatiya Jansangh veteran Nananji Deshmukh and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had also donated their bodies, Modi said Bihar should not lag behind in eye donation when 8318 persons of Tamil Nadu, 8066 persons of Gujarat and 7053 people of Maharashtra have already donated their eyes.

"We (Samiti) have taken a resolve of taking pledge from around 1000 people for eye donation in the next one year. This is a small beginning," Modi said.