The Tamil Nadu government's transport department has set a new Guinness world record by organising a mega blood donation camp involving 53,129 persons at multiple venues ahead of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's birthday.
A representative of Guinness World Records, handed over a certificate that tags the mega event as a 'Guinness World Record', to the Chief Minister at the Secretariat here today.
The blood donation camps were held across Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Villupuram, Vellore, Salem, Coimbatore, Karur, Tiruchirappalli and Kumbakonam on February 14. Jayalalithaa's birthday falls on February 24.
The previous record was a camp in which 43,732 persons volunteered to donate blood in 2010 in Haryana.
"A total of 18,439.28 litres of blood was collected and this is likely to result in higher chances for many lives to be saved. Raising awareness on the importance of donating blood is a great message for the whole community," the representative, Lousia, told Jayalalithaa while giving the certificate.
V Senthil Balaji, Minister for Transport, had organised the event.
