Kolkata, Aug. 28 -- State Health Minister Dr Sharadwat Mukherjee said people need not donate their bodies after death.
According to Mukherjee, former chief minister Jyoti Basu's body has not been used for medical purposes till now. He said the government was therefore requesting people not to donate their bodies after death.
The minister said whole-body donation has limited medical utility and that donating organs could instead help save patients.
The decision has triggered resentment among a section of people, who claimed that awareness about body donation was promoted during the CPI(M) regime and that many people still wish to donate their bodies
after death. Sikha Das, a Howrah resident, said, "We are shocked to hear the views of our recent health minister. If a person has a desire to donate their body, they cannot willingly donate their body because of such a diktat."
The Anatomy Act is passed individually by each state government. The Act allows licensed medical institutions to receive unclaimed or donated bodies for medical education and research.
The rules under the Act specify procedures for donation, consent, record-keeping and respectful disposal after use. In 2024, the Union Health Ministry urged several medical colleges to donate cadavers for medical use amid a shortage of human cadavers for academic purposes.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.