Tamil Nadu has reconstituted the Authorisation Committees for granting approvals for living donor organ donation and transplants at the State and district levels. The committee will look into the link between the donor and recipient, checking how they knew each other, and whether the donation is being made out of altruism, and will also speak to near relatives, friends of the donor over phone or directly to rule out any coercion in the donation.
A committee that conducted an inquiry into the illegal kidney donations and transplants involving donors in Pallipalayam, Namakkal had recommended that the Authorisation Committee be reconstituted, bringing in a new one at the State level and four regional ones. The State committee will monitor the district-level committees.
According to a Government Order dated September 8, the State-level Authorisation Committee will be chaired by the Director of Medical Education and Research. Members include a Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) and a woman doctor representative of Indian Medical Association. The district-level committees are as follows - north at Chennai (Madras Medical College), central at Thanjavur (Thanjavur Medical College), west at Coimbatore (Coimbatore Medical College), and south at Madurai (Madurai Medical College).
