Chandigarh: Addressing to the concerns of the shortage of corpses in the medical colleges of south India, the Dera Sacha Sauda and Tarksheel Society have announced their willingness to donate bodies to these colleges.

The severe crunch has been the result of increase in number of medical seats over recent years.

Medical colleges in north India are now self-sufficient in cadavers due to the efforts of these two organizations who have contributed many bodies for research over the past couple of years.

Megh Raj Mitter, founder and chief patron of Tarksheel Society, while explaining the reason to head south Indian medical colleges said that, “We were recently willing to donate a body to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, but they were not in requirement of it so we had no choice but to cremate it.”

According to a spokesman from Dera Sacha Sauda, Dr. Aditya Insaan, a centralised donation facility to temporary store the bodies at Sirsa would be created in his organization.

The Dera, some few years ago, had asked its followers to donate bodies for medical research when colleges in north India too were faced with a shortage.

Dr G T Subhas, Director, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute while appreciating the initiative to donate the corpses said, "Every year we require al least 14 cadavers for dissection but the present storage is of only 3 bodies for next session. It is really helpful if the organizations come forward to donate them."

"General surgeons and neurosurgeons also require them to carry on with their practice for surgical procedures," he added.

Dr. S Kantha, former vice-chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, said most medical institutes in Karnataka face an acute shortage of cadavers because of superstitions.

"Since bodies are unavailable in the required number, the work definitely suffers. The students are unable to learn," said Dr. Kantha.