The Union Health Ministry on Monday said that changes have been made in post-mortem protocols to allow the procedure to be conducted after sunset in hospitals with adequate infrastructure in a bid to boost organ donation.

“The post-mortem protocols were changed in response to the multiple references that have been received by the Union Health Ministry from various sources and in line with the Government’s commitment to promoting ease of living by reducing the burden imposed due to compliance to government processes,” said the Ministry explaining the reason for tweaking the protocol.

The ministry further said: “Apart from friends and relatives of the deceased, this new procedure also promotes organ donation and transplant as organs can be harvested in the stipulated time window after the procedure.”

The release added that the changes were introduced after a technical committee in the Directorate General of Health Services, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, examined the representations.

In fact, some institutes are already performing night-time post-mortem. So, in view of the rapid advancement and improvement in technology, especially the availability of required lighting and infrastructure required for post-mortem, performing night-time post-mortem in hospitals is now feasible.

Before hospitals are allowed to do so, the fitness and adequacy of the infrastructure will have to be assessed by the hospital in charge to ensure that there is no dilution of evidentiary value.