Key Facts

Recognizing the profound altruistic contribution of organ donors, the Tamil Nadu government issued orders granting special casual leave for government employees who donate organs or tissues to save lives. Under the scheme, state government servants who donate an organ (such as a kidney or partial liver) are entitled to up to 45 days of paid special leave to support post-surgical clinical recovery, following guidelines from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN). The initiative reinforces Tamil Nadu's national leadership in deceased and living organ donation, institutionalised through transparent organ allocation protocols and state honours for deceased donor funerals.

GK Context

Organ and tissue transplantation in India is legally governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, which strictly bans commercial trade in human organs while regulating donation by living relatives and brain-stem dead deceased donors. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), functioning under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, serves as the apex national nodal coordination centre. Tamil Nadu was the first state in the country to mandate brain-stem death certification in 2008 and create a dedicated transplant authority (TRANSTAN), consistently leading India in cadaveric organ retrieval and organ donation rates.