Officiating Principal Dr. Swati Dharmadhikar and the Management of Tirpude College of Social Work, a leading educational institution of Nagpur offering Graduate, Post Graduate, Diploma and Certification courses in Social Work domain invited Mr. Devang Chhaya, Life Member and Ambassador of MOHAN Foundation to conduct two sessions.

The first session was on Organ Donation Awareness & its Current Scenario in India on 8^th May 2023 and the second was session on Legal Aspects of Organ Donation & Transplantation on 10^th May, 2023. Both sessions were a part of a week-long ‘Certificate course on Organ Donation and Transplant Coordination’ introduced by the institution.

Dr. Ravi Wankhede, Honorary Director, MOHAN Foundation, Nagpur Centre and a doyen of Organ Donation movement in Vidarbha region was the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony. Ms. Veena Wathode, a prominent member of ZTCC, Nagpur was a revered guest. On the occasion, Ms. Khushi Nandawanshi, a 21-year-old student who braved all odds and donated a part of her liver to her ailing father was also felicitated. The following issues were covered during the session on Organ Donation Awareness: 

1. Concept of organ donation and tissue donation? How is it different from body donation?
2. Is organ donation legal?
3. How to pledge organs?
4. Current scenario of organ donation in India & why we need more and more cadaver organ donors
5. Type of living donors (Near relatives, Swap, Others). Organs and tissues that can be donated by living donors
6. Difference between Brain death and cardiac death
7. Certification of Brain death
8. Organs and tissues that can be donated after circulatory death and brain death
9. What is the time window for each organ donation & transplantation?
10. Role of ZTCC & Green corridor

The sessions were held in hybrid mode with 20 participants attending in person and 30 participants attending online/ through virtual mode. Participants were also informed of the various training courses, Professional courses and courses for the General Public that are offered by MOHAN Foundation.

During the session on Legal Aspects, the various provisions of ‘Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994’ were discussed in detail with special focus on Chapter-1 (Applications, Definitions), Chapter-II (Authority for removal of Human Organs & Tissues – including the role and functions of Authorization Committee), Chapter-IV (Appropriate Authority) & Chapter-VI (Offences and Penalties). Some recent judgments of High Courts and Supreme Court were also narrated.

After the sessions, clarifications were provided on queries raised by participants on (a) Organ Donation by LGBTQUI+ persons (b) Organ Donation by deceased persons abandoned by the family (c) Upper and Lower age criteria for organ donation.