Bharat Yagnik/TNN
Ahmedabad, Nov 5: Gujaratis revel in the art of giving, even when it comes to donating one’s own body. So much so, there is a glut of human bodies lying in Gujarat’s medical colleges.
Gujarat is by far the highest donor of human bodies for medical education. "Around 300-350 bodies are donated to medical colleges each year. In our college, 45 bodies have already been donated this year and we have 70 now, which is beyond our necessity," says Dr Bharat Trivedi, head of the department of NHL Municipal Medical College.
"Gujarat gets maximum body donations. We got 65 bodies this year and have 70 consent forms of people wishing to donate their bodies so that students can learn," says BJ Gohil, head of anatomy department at the Civil Hospital.
Medical colleges from Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have been writing to medical colleges in Gujarat to hand over some bodies, but the law does not permit sending bodies outside the state. "We get just five to six bodies a year. It becomes a problem to teach a large number of medical students," Dr Surendra Agarwal of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Ajmer told TOI.
"Gujaratis have pioneered the concept of being useful to humanity, even in death. The high number of body donations in the state is driven by voluntary organisations, religious institutions and most importantly a feeling of being useful even in death," says sociologist Gaurang Jani.
"Our family believes that there is no use of the ashes. And, a body donated helps medical science," says Nimish Patel, whose father Jayantibhai Patels body was donated to BJ Medical College last year. Nimish too has pledged his body.
"In Mumbai, we also use unclaimed bodies for dissection. Even here, most of the bodies donated are of Gujaratis," says Dr VG Sawant of DY Patil Medical College, Mumbai.