16 years on, state promises to maintain district-wise eye donation waitlist
The court was hearing the public interest litigation (PIL) initiated by Sampat Shetty in 2009, stating that the state uses only 14% of the total eyes donated by people who died a natural death in old age. The petition sought the formation of an advisory committee, as mandated under Section 13-A of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, and the preparation of a list of applicants for transplantation of human organs. On July 7, the division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne disposed of the PIL.
Responding to the petition, the high court had issued directions in December 2011 for the state to prepare a district-wise list of applicants for human organ transplantation, particularly eyes, or a list of all eye banks within districts. In 2014, the court noted expert committee findings to the same effect. The guidelines laid down by the expert committee recommended creating a district-level detailed database and mandating submission of waitlist lists by eye transplantation centres to the district program manager on the first day of each month.
However, in the same year, the court observed that the advisory committee mandated under the act, although constituted in March 2012, had not held a single meeting till 2014, when its term ended. The advisory authority under the 1994 Act mainly issues and revokes licenses to hospitals for the removal and transplantation of human organs. It also sets standards for the hospitals that engage in such activities and carries out quality inspections.
Aligning with the expert committee guidelines, the state government has now agreed to maintain the database on the Public Health Department's website and regularly update it.
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