On October 17, 2020, MOHAN Foundation was invited to conduct an interactive Q&A session on organ donation as part of “Virtual Organ Donation Rally”-True REINCARNATION Intercity which was jointly organized by Rotary Club of Delhi South West (Rotary District 3011) of Rotary International and Rotaract District 3011. The virtual organ donation rally was organized for the Rotary Club members and Rotarians across India to mark the importance of organ donation and to motivate them to pledge for organ donation. The rally was organized by PP Ajeet Jalan, Club Trainer, Rotary District 3011. Dr. Muneet Kaur Sahi was invited as the guest speaker.

The virtual rally was initiated with 2020-2021 theme of Rotary International  I.e., ‘Rotary Opens Opportunities’ for encouraging Rotarians around the world to seize the many opportunities Rotary offers to enrich their lives and the communities in which they serve. The virtual rally was moderated by Rotarian Niharika of Rotary District 3011.  Rtn. Shekhar Mehta-RI President Elect, Rtn. Dr. Bharat Pandya-RI Director, Sister Shivani-Brahmakumari, Dr. Vasanthi Ramesh- Director NOTTO and Rtn. Dinesh Raghuvanshi-Famous Hindi Poet were the other guest speakers.

Rotary Club of Delhi South West (Rotary District 3011) of Rotary International was chartered on October 2, 1985. Club members includes the various classification e.g. Doctors, Chartered Accountants, Film Producers, Engineers, Advocates, IT Professionals, Singers, Businessmen etc. Currently, there are 63 members in the club and it is one of the prominent club in Delhi NCR.

Rotaract District 3011 covers the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the revenue districts of Faridabad, Gurugram, Rohtak & Rewari in Haryana. Rotaract clubs bring together people ages 18-31 to exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through service. In communities worldwide, Rotary and Rotaract members work side by side to take action through service.

At the beginning, Rotarian Niharika welcomed all the participants and gave a brief introduction of the virtual rally. To gauge the knowledge and understanding of the audience on organ donation, she asked a question that “Why organ donation is important? She then invited DG Rtn. Sanjiv Rai Mehra, District Governor of Rotary District 3011 to call the meeting to order. After that National Anthem was played and all the participants raised their hands.

DG Rtn. Sanjiv Rai Mehra delivered inaugural address. He said organ donation truly symbolizes reincarnation. A person can still be alive in nine other people after his death by donating his organs. In India, thousands of people die every year while waiting for organs so it is our duty to come forward and save their lives. He emphasized the importance of organ donation and encouraged all the participants to pledge for organ donation. He welcomed all the speakers.

Before starting the interactive Q & A session, Dr. Muneet Kaur Sahi spoke about her association with MOHAN Foundation and explained to the participants that MOHAN is not someone’s name but an acronym for Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network. She shared with them the important work that the foundation is doing for the last 23 years to promote the cause of organ donation and create awareness on this very important but underplayed out area amongst the general public. She also spoke about MOHAN Foundation’s association with Rotary Club of Delhi South West for 5 years. She then invited participants to raise their queries. Few of them wrote in the chat box and few unmuted themselves and asked them with their video camera on.

Some of the important questions asked by the participants were:

• Can a person with diabetes donate his organs?
• Can a minor pledge for organ donation?
• What is the procedure and complications to receive organ for a recipient family?
• How do hospitals allocate organs to the recipient who is in waiting list? What is the process?
• All the pledges or sign ups, how many actually convert to organ donation?
• What is brain death?
• What is the definition of relatives for organ donation in Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) 1994?
• If a person has pledged for eye donation but the family refuses for donation after his death. Can the eyes still be donated?

After the Q &A session, there was a donor and a recipient family sharing that was organized by MOHAN foundation.

At the end, Rotarian Sarthak Bansal of Rotary District 3011 gave vote of thanks. He said the virtual rally was very informative and encouraged all the participants to pledge for organ donation. 

Close to 240 participants attended the virtual rally.