Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday said formalities necessary for organ donation would be made flexible as it would help the needy in emergency situations.
He said this while inaugurating the Organ Donation Promotion Award Scheme instituted by the Kochouseph Chittilappilly Foundation here. “Organ donation is a great sacrifice. Without empathy, one cannot do such a noble deed,” Chandy said.
The awards were given on the basis of organ donations in the state since January 1, 2012. The awardees were classified into two categories: relatives of brain-dead persons whose organs were donated, and voluntary organ donors. The award for the first category comprised of cash prizes of `1-5 lakh depending on the age of the brain-dead person while in the second category, cash prizes of `2-5 lakh were given away depending on the relation of the donor to the recipient. Chittilappilly said there were about 2 lakh kidney patients in the state. But only a few thousands are able to get new kidney.
Fr Jacob Kozhuvallil, Joseph M S, S T Sindu, Sasidharan T N from Ernakulam, Benny Thomas and Sunny Thomas from Idukki, Fr Sebastian Kidangathazhe from Kanjirapilly, George T V from Kannur, Jose C M from Thiruvananthapuram, Saji Thomas from Kottayam, Jeenu A Jacob from Pathanamthitta, Jinu from Puthussery Mala from Pathanamthitta were the awardees for voluntary organ donation.