From district-level transplant surgeries and a dedicated state organ-transplant organisation to laws that welcome grandparents as donors, Telangana has turned organ donation into a lifeline for India
Telangana has quietly scripted a story of extraordinary generosity. It starts with a single, irrevocable moment — when doctors pronounce a loved one brain-dead — and moves toward a decision that saves strangers’ lives. Under the state’s flagship Jeevandan programme, families across towns and villages are transforming tragedy into hope by donating organs, often in the most painful of circumstances.
On a humid August evening this year, 37-year-old Krishna Sumanth Bhuvanagiri was riding home through Hyderabad’s Miyapur when his bike skidded. Doctors soon declared him brain-dead. When his parents agreed to donate his heart, kidneys, liver and lungs, seven critically ill patients received a second chance at life.
Just weeks earlier in Mahabubnagar district, 22-year-old Kavali Shivaprasad died after a violent attack. His father, reeling from the loss of his only son, chose to donate his organs, saving three people. These personal stories echo through Telangana’s hospitals, where grief and grace intersect.
Telangana: A model for the nation
The state’s record is unmatched. Telangana ranks first in India for organ donation with an average of 4.88 donations per million people, far above the national average of 0.8. Since 2013, the families of 1,691 brain-dead individuals have donated organs, giving 6,372 patients a new lease on life. Surgeons have transplanted 2,538 kidneys, 1,550 livers, 230 hearts, 403 lungs, 14 pancreases, 170 heart valves and 1,467 corneas. In many cases, green corridors — special traffic-free routes — were created to rush harvested organs to waiting recipients.
Now, the Telangana Health Department has moved to expand this success. It recently approved transplant surgeries at combined district headquarters, not just in Hyderabad. Organ retrieval centres will soon open in Warangal’s MGM Hospital, Adilabad’s RIMS and other government facilities, ensuring that patients need not travel far for lifesaving treatment.
District-level expansion
The Jeevandan programme is the backbone of this effort. Inspired by its remarkable record, the state decided to encourage more transplants outside the capital. New organ retrieval centres will be established in every combined district headquarters so that even those in rural areas can benefit. The government is also simplifying the transplant process in public hospitals, ensuring that more procedures can be done under the state’s watchful eye.
Also read: How Hyderabad Birding Pals became one of India’s biggest birdwatching groups
Warangal’s MGM and Adilabad’s RIMS will soon conduct regular transplants. Health Minister Damodar Raj Narasimha announced that the government will support donor families and that a new State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation will coordinate procedures across Telangana. Dedicated surgical teams — one per organ — will be formed, and senior doctors will oversee operations to ensure efficiency and safety.
Legal framework and donor support
Telangana is aligning with the national Transplantation of Human Organs Act and drafting new state-specific rules. Under the revised regulations, not only immediate family members but also grandparents are eligible to donate or receive organs. The law also permits “organ swapping,” allowing two compatible families to exchange donors when a direct match is not possible.
The government has pledged financial assistance for the funeral rites of organ donors and will monitor private and corporate hospitals to ensure compliance with transplant guidelines. Any facility that violates these standards will face strict action. This combination of legal reform and compassionate policy aims to protect both donors and recipients.
Awareness and public engagement
Awareness is key to sustaining momentum. Jeevandan coordinator Dr. Sri Bhushan Raju says extensive outreach is planned. Public representatives and community leaders will be roped in to encourage families to register as organ donors. Families of donors are honoured publicly for their courage in consenting to donation after brain death. Conferences, seminars and local events will spread the message and normalise the idea of organ donation.
Guduru Seethamahalakshmi, founder of the All-India Organ Donors Association, wants organ donation to become a mass movement. She urges the government to conduct state-honoured funerals for donors, include an organ-donation column in school admissions and driving licence forms, and even add questions about organ donation to census surveys. She calls for online registration platforms and for organ donation to be integrated into school curricula and promoted through signage in government offices and hospitals.
The lives waiting
Despite these efforts, the need is immense. The World Health Organisation estimates that 500,000 Indians die each year because major organs fail and transplants do not come in time. Telangana alone has 3,835 patients on the waiting list: 2,715 require kidneys, 926 need livers, 100 need hearts, 79 need lungs and 15 need pancreases. Each number is a life in limbo.
Also read: India’s bees and butterflies are vanishing, and taking our future with them
Doctors emphasise that after brain death, a single donor can save up to seven lives by giving away eyes, heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, intestines, bones and skin. Patients can register with Jeevandan or the MOHAN Foundation, and transplants are already performed in government hospitals like NIMS and Osmania as well as 23 corporate hospitals across the state.
A growing movement
The number of transplants in Telangana continues to rise every year. In 2013, 189 people received organs; last year the figure rose to 725, and this year doctors have already performed 527 transplants. The Jeevandan programme and the dedication of its medical teams have inspired thousands to pledge their organs, ensuring that more patients receive the gift of life.
Telangana’s example shows what is possible when policy, medical infrastructure and human compassion work together. In hospitals from Hyderabad to Adilabad, families are turning loss into legacy. In the silent corridors of hospitals, the state is proving that life after death is not just a metaphor, it’s a daily reality.
