Months after the kidney racket was busted in Gurgaon earlier this year, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has proposed stringent amendments to the Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994. Besides seeking to increase the punishment to offenders under the Act, the amendments also put curbs on foreigners who come to India for organ transplants.

The Ministry has proposed that foreigners who want organ transplants should be required to get donors from their country, with proof that the donor is a relative. “At times, it has been seen that they get Indian donors and vanish after the procedure is done. It will be made mandatory for them to get donors from their own country now,” said a senior ministry official.

According to doctors, foreigners account for 30-40 per cent of the transplants — usually kidney or liver — in India. There is also a proposal to increase the prison term for those booked under the Act from the present three-five years to five-10 years. For those found to be involved in a commercial kidney racket, the term has been increased from seven to 10 years, with the fine ranging from Rs 5 lakh-20 lakh.

The amendments, which will be sent to the Cabinet for approval, also put restrictions on organ donation by children. “The government will identify special cases, like where the bone marrow is required, in which such donations will be allowed. Otherwise, it will be completely restricted,” added the official.

All hospitals registered for the purpose of organ donation will have a transplant coordinator to interact with the donor and recipient’s family. The government is also planning to come up with a national registry of organs, which will have details furnished by various hospitals.

... contd.