SBI Reiterates its Commitment for Organ Donation:37 Pledging for Organ Donation on the spot 

SBI Reiterates its Commitment for Organ Donation

Organises Awareness Session in collaboration with ROTTO PGIMER

Concludes with 37 Pledging for Organ Donation on the spot 

In sync with its  vision of  holistic development where business goes hand in hand with societal well-being, State Bank of India reiterated its commitment for the noble cause of Organ Donation by organising an engaging and impressive awareness session in collaboration with ROTTO (NORTH) PGIMER for its staff at State Bank of India Industrial Finance branch at Ludhiana, Punjab today.

Presided over by Mr. Ajay Sharma, Deputy General Manager the event witnessed an enthusiastic response with 37 pledging their organs on the spot and an equal number of pledge forms taken by the participants for their family and friends. ROTTO PGIMER was represented by Dr.  Pranay Mahajan, Joint Director, Ms Saryu D. Madra, Consultant (IEC/Media) and Mr Karanjot, Transplant Coordinator ROTTO (North).

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Ajay Sharma deliberated on SBI’s vision and values of societal good and stated, “The act of pledging organs during one’s lifetime is the most appreciable deed one can do.”

Being fairly clued about the concept of Organ Donation, Mr Sharma demystified the myth regarding religious beliefs as he said,“All the religions teach the values of compassion and altruism. Organ Donation is, in fact, reiteration of those values only  as its giving someone a second chance to live and there cannot be anything more altruistic than the ‘gift of life’. In this context, religion should be perceived as an enabler for this noble cause.”

Mr. Sharma also proposed the idea of more robust system  to facilitate the counselling and consenting process of Organ Donation.

Commending the social responsibility endeavour of State Bank of India and endorsing the need for community engagement, Dr Pranay Mahajan from PGIMER stated, “Its heartening to see apex financial institution State Bank of India joining hands and committing to take forward the campaign to its multiple branches. This top driven initiative of SBI will definitely help us garner enough traction for the cause with the larger sections of the society and help saving precious lives.”

Deliberating on the initiatives being undertaken by ROTTO PGIMER to promote Organ Donation, Ms Saryu D Madra, Consultant (IEC/Media) ROTTO PGIMER emphasized that the solution to organ shortage is possible only through systematic strengthening of the deceased donor programme. “We don’t ever want someone else to suffer a loss in their family but if it does happen it’d be magnanimous on their part to give a second lease of life to someone else in their passing.”

Ms Madra further underpinned, “With waiting list getting longer, the gap between organ demand and availability increasing  at a rapid pace and helpless patients dying every day while waiting for a transplant, it is vital that more and more of us pledge for organ donation.”

The session witnessed  showcasing of a  motivational documentary on the success story of a liver recipient in PGIMER  which left many in the hall with moist eyes. Another highpoint of the event was a very engaging and interesting QA session.

Concluding the session, Mr. Sanjiv Sharma  from State Bank of India expressed his gratitude towards PGIMER for supporting their social responsibility endeavour. He assured of the Bank’s commitment to take forward the awareness campaign, thereby connecting and sensitizing a large base of employees.

Commemorating the spirit, paintings were gifted to Mr Ajay Sharma and other dignitaries  as a token to reiterate the fact that ‘circle of life’ should not break. These paintings were made by school students on the theme of Organ Donation under ROTTO NORTH’s school engagement programme.