The body of former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who died on Thursday, was handed over to the NRS Medical College and Hospital on Friday afternoon.

The body, which will be used to teach students, has been embalmed in the anatomy department of the medical college.

A doctor in the anatomy department said Bhattacharjee had pledged to donate his body to NRS.

On Thursday, a team of doctors from the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO) visited Bhattacharjee’s Palm Avenue flat to retrieve his eyes. Two persons got the Marxist’s corneas.

“A man and a woman underwent the transplantation. They are doing well,” said Asim Kumar Ghosh, the director of RIO, which is located on the Medical College Kolkata campus.

“The condition of his corneas was good. He never underwent cataract surgery. I would urge more people to come forward and pledge to donate their eyes. There is a long queue of people enlisted for cornea transplantation,” said Ghosh.

At NRS, Bhattacharjee’s body was received in the dissection hall of the anatomy department around 5.30pm. “We examined the official documents of pledging the body. After a brief ceremony, we started embalming the body,” said Abhijit Bhakta, a professor of anatomy at NRS.

Some chemicals were injected into veins to keep the body in good condition.

Bhakta said an embalmed body is kept in a solution of chemicals and fluids.

“The embalming process takes around two hours. Once the embalming is done, the body is kept in the solution for about two weeks. It is checked twice during this period, seven days apart, to see whether it is in a good condition. After that it can be used to teach students,” said Bhakta, who is also the president of the Bengal chapter of the Anatomical Society of India.

“Bhattacharjee’s decision to donate his body will help immensely in teaching students of medicine. A cadaver is the best teacher a student of medicine can get,” said Bhakta.

“I received a call from the state government on Thursday that Bhattacharjee’s body would come to our hospital. The party (CPM) also got in touch with our hospital authorities.”

The roads inside the hospital leading to the department were lined with nurses, students, family members of patients and curious onlookers. Even patients inside some of the buildings had come to the corridor to catch a glimpse of the last ride of the former chief minister.