Sambalpur: In a poignant demonstration of altruism amid a persistent crisis in medical education, a family from Odisha’s Sambalpur has donated the bodies of five members and relatives to Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla over the past eight years.
The latest contribution came following the death of Saudamini Nanda, an 82-year-old retired teacher, social worker, and women’s rights advocate, who breathed her last on Thursday morning while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bhubaneswar. Her family fulfilled her final wish by donating her mortal remains to VIMSAR the following day, bringing the family’s total to five donations since 2018.
The remarkable tradition began with relative Jagamohan Mishra in 2018, followed by Nanda’s husband and Sarvodaya activist Bhagabat Prasad Nanda in 2020, her elder sister Shakuntala Sadangi in 2023, and her 19-year-old grandson Saisharan in 2024.
Saudamini was born on April 11, 1944 in Sambalpur to freedom fighter Dayanand Satpathy. She enjoyed a distinguished career in education and public service. She began teaching in 1969 at Bada Bazar Girls’ School (now Dutika Sahu High School) and retired in 2002. She later served as secretary of the Sambalpur Municipality Secondary Teachers’ Association. A pioneering figure in women’s empowerment, she was a founding member of Utkal Mahila Samiti, worked with Nari Seva Sangha for nearly three decades, and served as general secretary of the Odisha Pradesh Mahila Congress after joining the party post-retirement. She also authored two books, ‘Saunta Smruti’ and ‘Bibidha Prasanga’, with a third, ‘Paschim Odishare Agraganya’, awaiting publication.
Union Education Minister and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan, among others including Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, deputy Leader of Opposition Prasanna Acharya, and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das, expressed condolences, praising her lifelong contributions to social welfare and public service.
The donations come as VIMSAR’s Anatomy Department grapples with a severe shortage of cadavers for teaching and training purposes. Department records indicate the the institute has received only around 40 donated bodies over the past 12 years, even as demand for hands-on anatomy education continues to rise.
Speaking to the media, Head of the Anatomy Department Dr. Mamata Sar highlighted the institute’s efforts to honour donors by displaying their photographs in the Anatomy Museum, where portraits of 35 donors are currently exhibited. She described body donation as a lasting legacy that not only advances medical education but also ensures donors’ memories endure through generations of future doctors. Sar has previously emphasised that students learn far more effectively from real human bodies than from virtual models or replicas.