Chandigarh, Aug 5 (PTI) The Western Command of the Army on Monday organised an 'organ donation awareness' programme at Chandimandir on the occasion of the 14th Indian Organ Donation Day.

Lt General Manoj Kumar Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Western Command and many other dignitaries were present on this occasion.

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The initiative was undertaken as part of an endeavour to spread awareness and importance of organ donation through talks, motivational videos and by acknowledging the selfless deeds of donors, who provided a new lease of life to others, said an official release.

It was followed by a panel discussion to clear myths regarding organ donation.

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Pamphlets explaining organ donation process and pledging of organs were also unveiled by the chief guest during the ceremony.

The GOC-in-C Western Command felicitated the families of soldiers who donated their organs. These included the families of Subedar Arjun Singh, Havildar Rajesh Singh and Sepoy Ankit, who donated his father's organs.

Addressing the gathering, the Army commander highlighted that organ donation is an expression of the deepest form of human empathy, which transcends into hope, well-being and a gift of life and stressed upon the need for the noble act and an organ donation pledge.

He conveyed his appreciation to the families of the donors present and also encouraged everybody to spread awareness about organ donation.

Organ donation initiative of the Indian Army was started by the Armed Forces Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Authority (AORTA) in 2007.

The Command Hospital, Western Command, has regularly carried out multi-organ retrievals from deceased donors and successfully transplanted them into recipients with end-stage disease, providing them a new lease of life, it said.

Since the inception of the organ retrieval centre at the Command Hospital, Chandimandir in 2014, the hospital has successfully retrieved 85 organs for recipient hospitals.

Over a period of one year, four successful donations culminating into transplant harvest surgeries have saved nine lives, it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)