PIB TrackerHealth Minister reviews TB Mukt Bharat drive as India presses its 2025 elimination goal
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda reviewed the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and the 100-day intensified campaign with the Delhi government, pressing for Jan Bhagidari after Delhi screened 28.83 lakh people and notified 1.75 lakh TB patients.
What happened
- Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda chaired a review of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and the 100-day intensified campaign with the Government of NCT of Delhi.
- He stressed that tuberculosis elimination cannot be achieved by the health system in isolation and called for Jan Bhagidari, with MPs, MLAs and Municipal Councillors briefed on their constituency's TB burden and a senior officer designated for every ward.
- He backed more AI-integrated handheld X-ray machines for early diagnosis and greater participation of MY Bharat volunteers for community outreach.
- Officials reported that AI-driven vulnerability mapping (30+ indicators) identified 1.58 lakh high-risk villages/wards nationally, and in Delhi narrowed the focus to 38 wards across 11 districts carrying over 80% of the city's high-risk burden.
- In Delhi the campaign has screened 28.83 lakh people, done 21.67 lakh chest X-rays and 3.65 lakh molecular (NAAT) tests, and notified 1.75 lakh TB patients.
For Prelims
- National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP): The renamed (2020) national TB programme (earlier RNTCP) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; India aims to eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the SDG target of 2030 (SDG 3.3). 'Elimination' here means an 80% cut in incidence, not zero cases.
- Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan: Launched in September 2022 to build a community/Jan Bhagidari movement against TB; the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative lets individuals and organisations 'adopt' TB patients to provide nutritional and social support.
- Ni-kshay portal: The web-based platform for TB case notification and patient management ('Ni-kshay' = end of TB); notification of every TB case (public and private) is mandatory.
- Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana: Direct Benefit Transfer nutritional support to notified TB patients, revised to ₹1,000 per month (from ₹500) for the treatment duration.
- NAAT / molecular test: Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (e.g. CBNAAT/TrueNat) give rapid molecular diagnosis of TB and rifampicin resistance, used for upfront testing of presumptive and drug-resistant cases.
- 100-day intensified campaign: A time-bound national drive to accelerate case-finding among high-risk groups and cut TB deaths, using AI-based vulnerability mapping to target high-burden districts/wards.
- Don't confuse: India's TB-elimination target is 2025 (ahead of SDG 2030), not 2030; elimination means an 80% reduction in incidence, not literally zero TB. NTEP is the programme; TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan is the people's-movement campaign under it.
For UPSC: Nadda's review anchors India's TB-elimination effort: a 2025 target set five years ahead of SDG 2030, delivered through the NTEP and the community-driven TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. Revise the NTEP (ex-RNTCP), Ni-kshay portal and Ni-kshay Mitra, Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana (₹1,000/month DBT), the 100-day campaign, and the governance angle of centre-state-local coordination and Jan Bhagidari.
What it is NOT: This was a review meeting, not a new scheme or a declaration that Delhi is TB-free. India's target is elimination (an 80% fall in incidence) by 2025, not the eradication of every TB case; and the target is 2025, ahead of the SDG's 2030 — do not conflate the two dates.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS2.13 · GS2.10 · Linkage L2
Anchor
Disease elimination as a governance challenge — TB control depends less on new drugs than on centre-state-local coordination, notification and community participation (Jan Bhagidari).
Substantiation (data)
Under the 100-day campaign Delhi screened 28.83 lakh people, did 21.67 lakh chest X-rays and 3.65 lakh NAAT tests, and notified 1.75 lakh TB patients; AI mapping flagged 1.58 lakh high-risk villages/wards nationally.
Exemplification
Cite NTEP's Ni-kshay portal (mandatory notification), Ni-kshay Mitra adoption and the ₹1,000/month Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana as instruments linking nutrition, adherence and case-finding.
Problematisation
Private-sector under-notification, treatment adherence and drug-resistant TB, nutrition and poverty as social determinants, and last-mile local-body capacity remain binding constraints.
Way-forward
Upfront NAAT testing, TB preventive treatment for household contacts, AI-based targeting of high-risk wards, and elected-representative ownership to convert screening into completed cures.
Position
Government stance: TB elimination is a shared national mission requiring people's participation, not a health-department task in isolation.
Deploys into: Health-sector governance & disease elimination (TB Mukt Bharat/NTEP) · social determinants and nutrition · centre-state-local coordination and community participation (GS2.13 health, education & human resources, GS2.10 government policies & interventions).
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare · 2026-07-01 · PRID 2279976 · PIB source ↗