If one person donates his/her organs after death, he/she can save or better as many as 50 lives, that is what doctors say. But most of the people due to lack of awareness of the dire necessity of organs for people who are waiting for donors do not pledge for the same. A lot of them are of the opinion also that their religion does not support the donation of organs after death. Whereas not one of the 22 major religions in the world is against it. Most major religions in India including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Buddhism support organ and tissue donation, and consider donation the final act of love and generosity toward others. Keeping this in mind, the government is now looking to spiritual and religious gurus to promote the kind act of organ donation. Health minister J P Nadda and senior officials have held two rounds of discussions with these gurus and are now working out a detailed campaign on organ donation, which is expected to be launched very soon, a senior official said.

Surveys showed that around 30% of people in urban areas believed organ donors would not receive any life-saving treatment while around 20% thought their body would be mutilated. Also many people believe in myths like donating organs may impact the next birth. According to estimates, of the 95 lakh people who die in India every year, at least one lakh are potential donors. Despite this, there are nearly 300 deaths every day due to failure of various organs. "Religious leaders and gurus have major influence on people and most of them have mass followers. Involving them would mean spreading awareness among a large number of people through a medium that commands faith and trust," the official said.