New Delhi witnessed a celebration of second chances on Sunday, as Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan inaugurated the National Organ Transplant Games 2026 at Talkatora Stadium. The opening ceremony brought together transplant recipients, living donors, doctors and families, all united by one message: organ donation saves lives, and it deserves far greater awareness across India.
Calling organ donation a Mahadaan, or supreme gift, the Vice President said one deceased donor can save up to eight lives. He urged people to talk openly about donation, to make informed decisions, and to share their wishes with their families, so that fewer patients die while waiting for an organ.
The ceremony also produced a moment that will enter the record books. As many as 570 transplant recipients and donors performed Tadasana, the mountain pose, together on the stadium floor. The World Book of Records recognised it as the largest congregation of transplant recipients and donors performing Tadasana, a striking image of recovery, discipline and collective strength.
A celebration of courage and medical science
The Vice President described the Games as a celebration of courage, determination and compassion, and congratulated the organisers, the Renal Care Foundation and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, along with the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
He also paid his deepest respects to deceased organ donors and their families, whose selfless decisions give others a second chance at life. The message ran through the entire ceremony: behind every transplant success story stands a family that said yes at the hardest possible moment.
During the programme, the Vice President released the Zindagi Dobara calendar and felicitated Indian medal winners from the World Transplant Games 2025, held in Dresden, Germany. He later joined the gathering in taking the Organ Donation Pledge and watched exhibition matches in kabaddi, table tennis and badminton, sports that many participants once feared they would never play again.
Why awareness matters more than ever
India performs a large number of transplants every year, yet the waiting list remains long. Thousands of patients with kidney, liver, heart and lung failure wait for a matching donor, and many do not survive the wait. Doctors say the gap is not medical capability but awareness, and myths around donation continue to hold families back.
The Vice President addressed those misconceptions directly. He called for myths to be dispelled, for facts to reach every household, and for donation to be discussed as a normal, generous family decision rather than a difficult or taboo subject. Awareness campaigns, he said, must reach small towns and villages as much as big cities.
- One deceased organ donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation.
- 570 transplant recipients and donors set a world record by performing Tadasana together at the Games.
- The Games are organised by the Renal Care Foundation and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, with NOTTO.
- Indian medal winners from the World Transplant Games 2025 in Dresden were felicitated at the ceremony.
- The Vice President released the Zindagi Dobara calendar and administered the Organ Donation Pledge.
Who attended the opening ceremony
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav attended the programme, along with Lok Sabha member Bansuri Swaraj. Senior doctors and organisers present included Dr D. S. Rana, chairman of the Sir Ganga Ram Trust Society and chief patron of the Games, organising chairman Dr A. K. Bhalla, and NOTTO director Dr Anil Kumar.
The presence of policymakers, doctors and recipients on the same stage underlined the point the organisers wanted to make: organ donation is a shared national mission, spanning hospitals, government and ordinary families.
What the Games mean for patients waiting today
For patients still on waiting lists, events like these carry a practical message. They show that transplant recipients return to full, active lives, playing competitive sport, working and raising families. That visibility, doctors say, encourages more families to consider pledging their organs.
As the competitions continue at Talkatora Stadium, the organisers hope the images from Sunday, hundreds of recipients standing tall in Tadasana, will travel far beyond Delhi and prompt a simple conversation at home: have we talked about organ donation as a family?
FAQs
What are the National Organ Transplant Games 2026?
They are a national sporting event in New Delhi for organ transplant recipients, living donors, healthcare professionals and their families, organised to celebrate recovery and raise awareness about organ donation.
Who inaugurated the Games?
Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan inaugurated the Games on November 1, 2026, at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.
What world record was set at the event?
A total of 570 transplant recipients and donors performed Tadasana together, recognised by the World Book of Records as the largest such congregation.
How many lives can one organ donor save?
According to the Vice President, one deceased organ donor can save up to eight lives.
How can someone pledge to donate organs in India?
Anyone can register as an organ donor through NOTTO and should also inform their family, since the family’s consent is essential at the time of donation.
The National Organ Transplant Games 2026 are a reminder that behind every medal, every match and every yoga pose on that stadium floor stands a donor, a family and a medical team that made a second life possible.
