The government will evolve a mechanism to make organ donation more transparent and avoid middlemen, Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has said.
Steps will also be taken to create awareness of organ donation among citizens. The rate of organ donation had come down in the State this year mainly due to apprehension among the citizens.
Responding to a calling attention by C. Mammutty in the Assembly on Wednesday to ease complexities in organ donation and transplantation, the Minister said the government was for making organ donation and transplantation scientific.
The government had already made the presence of a government doctor mandatory to certify brain stem deaths in hospitals. Of the four doctors on the certification committee notified by the government, one should be from outside the institute.
The objective was to make the organ donation process more transparent and ensure that the certification procedure adhered to international protocols, the Health Minister said.
Earlier, Mr. Mammutty drew attention of the House to a mafia operating in the State and exploitation in the name of organ donation. Huge amounts were being extracted from the needy by those involved in the racket centred on Kochi.
Donors were not coming forward even as 2,000 people were awaiting organ transplantation after registering in the Mrithasanjeevani scheme.
Marriage opulence
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it was for individuals to avoid opulent marriages and turn role models in society.
Responding to a calling attention by Mullakkara Ratnakaran on the socio-economic impact of extravagant weddings, Mr. Vijayan said such marriages were influencing others, forcing them to hold marriages in a more opulent manner by roping in event management groups.
Cess on fat weddings
The efforts of the government in 2014 to curb the trend through a cess on weddings in three-star hotels and auditoriums with 500 seats and more had to be abandoned after the High Court ruled it unconstitutional. He said awareness of avoiding opulent weddings was the need of the hour and a legislation and penal tax to deter such weddings as suggested by Mr. Ratnakaran would not serve the purpose.
