Health Minister should walk the talk to inspire the nation.
SHIMLA/NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2:
Grand speeches, emotional tributes, and glossy booklets marked the 15th Indian Organ Donation Day celebrated at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre New Delhi under Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who hails from Himachal.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda called organ donation “the noblest act of humanity”, and officials proudly declared that India had performed 18,900 organ transplants in 2024, the highest ever.
But behind the applause lies a harsh truth — India’s top leaders, health officials, and bureaucrats, including those in Nadda’s home states of Himachal and Uttarakhand, have rarely pledged their own organs.
For all the government’s chest-thumping on streamlining transplants, the number of cadaver donations — organs retrieved after death — remains dismally low.
Despite awareness campaigns like Angdaan – Jeevan Sanjeevani Abhiyan, the movement lacks sincerity at the top.
No sitting Union Minister, MP, or senior health bureaucrat has publicly registered for organ or cadaver donation — not even those who helm the very programs meant to inspire the masses.
This reluctance cuts across religious, regional, and bureaucratic lines. In states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, known for high literacy and healthcare indices, senior IAS officers and political leaders have largely stayed aloof.
Despite representing progressive hill societies, health secretaries, top doctors, and district officials — including those associated with medical colleges — have not stepped forward to lead by example.
But in Himachal, Health department under the ageing health minister Dr DR Shandil remained in slumber not even a ceremonial talk was held in IGMC, and other college by the slacking health department, with health officials hogging headlines for the wrong reasons- transfer scam, bribes, charged insiders.
Among few exceptions figure former Shimla Mayor Sanjay Chauhan, a Left leader, who along with his wife and late mother, has pledged his body for medical science — a powerful statement at odds with the dominant silence among mainstream leaders.
Chauhan has consistently advocated for ethical medical education and organ donation, walking the talk where many only talk.
At Friday’s event, Nadda waxed eloquent on the “alarming rise in organ failure” and praised the 3.3 lakh online pledges made on the Aadhaar-linked NOTTO platform.
But his speech avoided the critical question: Why hasn’t he — or his Cabinet colleagues — pledged their own organs?
Officials unveiled awareness booklets on organ health through Ayurveda and Yoga, spoke of infrastructure upgrades, and hailed state-level champions like Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
But the real change will only come when those in power and public service lead from the front — not from behind a dais.
Ms. Nivedita Shukla Verma, Acting Health Secretary, too, admitted India’s organ donation rate remains below 1%, and pointed to over 63,000 kidney patients and 22,000 liver patients still waiting.
She mentioned the need for accident victim donations — but not the need for officials themselves to be listed donors.
For now, the moral burden continues to rest on common citizens and a few unsung families. At the event, 10 such donor families were felicitated — everyday people who showed more courage than the netas who claim to lead the cause.
It’s high time the country stopped clapping and started asking: If this is such a noble act, why won’t our leaders do it? Until they do, organ donation will remain a slogan — not a revolution.
\#OrganDonationReality
\#LeadByExample
\#CadaverDonationCrisis
\#NetasMustPledge
\#WalkTheTalkIndia
