Odisha Govt Issues Notification On State Honours For Organ Donors

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has issued the official notification on conducting last rites of organ donors with full state honours.

This is part of its initiative to create awareness on organ donation and encourage people to donate organs and save lives.

In 2020, the government had instituted ‘Suraj Award’ in memory of Late Suraj Behera, whose parents voluntarily donated the organs of their brain-dead son to save lives of other people. The donors’ families are also being given a cash award of Rs 5 lakh each from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), and the families of organ donors from the state are felicitated on the occasion of World Organ Donation Day on August 13 every year.

“In addition to these, the government has decide that the last rites of organ donors of heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, lungs and intestines shall be conducted with full state honours during the funeral, in order to acknowledge the selfless and heroic contribution of organ donors and their families,” the official notification issued on February 19 said.

This came four days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced state hours for organ donors, acknowledging their sacrifices and promoting organ donation.

It follows Tamil Nadu’s similar gesture for organ donors announced by chief minister M K Stalin last September.