Kidney patients in Rajasthan shift to Gujarat as cadaver donations stay scarce

Jaipur: With only two cadaver kidney donations recorded in Rajasthan so far in 2026, at least 899 patients remain on the state's waiting list, pushing many families to seek transplants in Gujarat, where the system is seen as more active.As the wait for cadaver transplants lengthens and deceased organ donations stay extremely low, kidney patients from Rajasthan are increasingly moving to other states.Forty-year-old Ashok Sharma from Phagi in Jaipur district underwent a kidney transplant at a hospital in Ahmedabad in Sept 2025 after being placed on the waiting list there in 2022.Sharma said his first kidney transplant was performed at a private hospital in Jaipur in 2011, with his mother as the donor, but it failed. In 2013, his father donated a kidney, but that transplant also failed in 2021 after Sharma contracted Covid-19. His wife and sisters were willing to donate, but none was a match.Doctors in Ahmedabad then placed him on the cadaver transplant waiting list because no suitable live donor could be found. He received a cadaver kidney in September 2025."In Rajasthan, cadaveric organ transplant has still not taken off despite more than 10 years since its launch," Sharma said.He said the prolonged treatment had devastated the family financially, forcing them to sell land and part with his wife's jewellery to continue care since 2011.A similar case is that of 55-year-old Shalu Vig from Bikaner. She was registered on the kidney recipient waiting list at Ahmedabad's IKDRC in September 2023 and received her transplant on January 4, 2026. Others are still waiting. Mahesh Dewani from Bikaner is currently staying in Ahmedabad while his wife, Bhavna Dewani, undergoes regular dialysis. She was registered on the kidney recipient waiting list in June 2023."In the waiting list, her number is 133. We do not have any live donor. We are waiting for cadaveric organ donation to come through for her transplant. In Rajasthan, the waiting list is very long and donations are not happening," Dewani said.He said that until 2022, patients had to register on the waiting list in their home state. The Centre changed that rule in 2022, allowing patients to register in any one state across the country. For many in Rajasthan, the change has become a crucial option.