With the success of organ transplantation as an effective modality of treating end stage disease of various organs, increasing numbers of organ transplants are being performed all over the world. However, this procedure requires a "donor" pool of either "living" or "cadaveric" donors. Since this pool is limited, the gap between "demand" and supply is widening. In the context of organ donation "cadaveric" donation has largely meant "brain dead" or "heart beating" donors. In the last four decades, the concept of "brain death" - a state in which the brain is irreversibly damaged but the heart is beating - has been legalised and accepted in many countries of the world. However, in spite of the legal sanction as well as sustained campaigning, the number of such donors is limited.