Koraput: Srinivas, a social worker from Malkangiri, has pledged to donate his body after death. He has submitted an application along with an affidavit stating his consent to Dr. Sushanta Kumar Sahu, the Dean of SLN Medical College, Koraput.
R. Srinivas Rao, a resident of Kumbar Sahi in Malkangiri, is a well-known social activist and the founder of the Odisha Dalit Society. He has authored 32 books focused on Dalit culture and works for the upliftment of Dalits and other communities.
Medical colleges often face a shortage of cadavers, which hampers the studies and research of medical students. Notably, some students from Balasore Medical College had recently appealed on social media regarding the scarcity of cadavers. This moved Srinivas, who questioned how underdeveloped districts like Koraput would cope when even a highly educated district like Balasore faces such issues.
Srinivas believes that donating his body would serve society and has urged others to step forward to donate organs and bodies as well. His affidavit includes the consent of his wife Sandhya Rani Chandra and son R. Kradhi Sagar. He has pledged to donate his body to the Department of Anatomy at Koraput Medical College after his death.
Medical College Superintendent and Dean Dr. Sushanta Kumar Sahu praised Srinivas for this noble step and appealed to others in society to come forward and pledge to donate their bodies and organs posthumously. Present during the submission of the application were Dr. Dharmendra Kumar, Head of the Anatomy Department, and Srinivas’s associates Santosh Kumar Behera and Baikuntha Mandal.