Nagpur: Even as the Winter Assembly session is underway in Nagpur, fresh data tabled in Parliament has brought the spotlight back on Maharashtra’s mounting organ-transplant crisis. Nearly 300 patients in the state have died while waiting for an organ transplant between 2020 and 2024, placing Maharashtra among the worst-affected regions in the country.
According to figures shared by the Union Health Ministry, 2,805 people across India died awaiting organ transplants in the last five years, with Delhi accounting for the highest toll at 1,425 deaths, followed by Maharashtra with 297 deaths, and Tamil Nadu with 233. Lawmakers from Maharashtra are expected to raise the issue during the ongoing session, given the alarming scale of the crisis.
While Delhi performs the maximum number of transplants nationwide, the ministry noted that most of these procedures rely on living donors, predominantly relatives, rather than deceased donors. This trend results in shorter waiting times in states with higher living-donor participation, while states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu—where patients depend more heavily on the national deceased-donor pool—continue to witness long and stagnant waiting lists.
The national transplant system requires every patient in need of an organ to be registered on a central government portal. They are removed from the queue only if they secure an organ from a family member or other living donor.
The latest data paints a stark picture for Maharashtra: 20,553 patients are currently on the transplant waiting list as of December 2025, the highest in the country. Of these, 13,045 are kidney patients, reflecting the acute shortage of renal donors. Gujarat follows with 9,592 patients in the queue, including 7,405 awaiting kidney transplants and 2,019 needing liver transplants. Tamil Nadu stands third, with 9,166 patients still waiting, of whom 6,448 require kidneys and 2,020 livers.
With the state legislature in session, health advocates and patient groups expect strong demands for improving cadaveric organ donation rates, streamlining the procurement system, and enhancing public awareness to prevent further avoidable deaths.
