TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

India wants to end tuberculosis five years before the rest of the world. TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan mobilises youth volunteers, workplaces and the armed forces to make it happen. In just over a year, it has screened more than 28 crore people.

1Chapter 1: The Long Road to NTEP

Must Know

A timeline from 1962

• NTEP aims to end TB in India by 2025. That is five years ahead of the global goal of 2030.
• The name “TB Mukt Bharat” (TB-Free India) echoes the government’s other “Mukt Bharat” campaigns.
• It applies the same branding to a public health goal.

2Chapter 2: The Tools of the Campaign

Must Know

One shared patient record

• The Ni-kshay portal is a unified digital system for TB patient management.
• It links public and private healthcare providers to a single patient record.
• So a patient’s treatment history follows them wherever they go for care.

Adopting a patient

• On 9 September 2022, the President launched Ni-kshay Mitra.
• It lets individuals, NGOs and organisations “adopt” a TB patient for six months.
• The adopter gives nutritional and social support.

A 100-day push and doubled nutrition support

• The 100-Day campaign launched on 7 December 2024.
• It covered 347 high-priority districts across 33 States and Union Territories.
• Under Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana, monthly nutrition support per notified patient rose from ₹500 to ₹1,000 on 1 November 2024.

3Chapter 3: What “Notified” Means

Good to Know

Not just paperwork

• A TB patient is “notified” once a doctor or lab confirms the diagnosis and reports it into the Ni-kshay system.
• This is the step that makes a patient officially eligible for free treatment and nutrition support.
• So the campaign tracks “patients notified” as its main progress number.
• It counts people now inside the treatment system, not just people who were screened.

Active case finding

• NTEP’s strategy centres on active case finding.
• Instead of waiting for a sick person to visit a hospital, health workers screen high-risk groups.
• These include people with diabetes, HIV, malnutrition or a smoking habit.
• The tool is the chest X-ray.

The numbers so far

• Since the December 2024 launch, over 28 crore vulnerable people have been screened.
• More than 39 lakh TB patients were notified.
• Of these, 12.93 lakh were found through active screening alone.
• Over 5.7 lakh Ni-kshay Mitras have registered.
• They have distributed 38.9 lakh nutrition baskets to patients and their families.

4Chapter 4: Pulling in More Ministries

Current Affairs

7 July 2026

• Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda chaired a high-level meeting on 7 July 2026. (Source: PIB.)
• The Ministries of Youth Affairs & Sports, Labour & Employment, and Defence joined.
• He urged wider use of MY Bharat volunteers and NCC cadets.
• He also urged TB screening at workplaces and outreach through defence personnel.
• Read more: MY Bharat: Mera Yuva Bharat and National Cadet Corps.

Using the medical workforce

• Officials noted India has nearly 6 lakh undergraduate and 2 lakh postgraduate medical students.
• The government wants to engage this workforce through medical colleges nationwide.
• So TB elimination has moved from one ministry’s programme to a whole-of-government campaign.

5Chapter 5: Compare and Connect

Great to Know

Different from Ayushman Bharat

• Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY covers hospital costs through insurance.
• NTEP focuses on active screening, free treatment and patient nutrition, specifically for TB.
• Read more: Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY).

Other public health pushes

• Read more: Jan Aushadhi Scheme: Affordable Generic Medicines in India, which tackles medicine costs.
• Read more: Counter-Narcotics Enforcement in India: NCB and the Drug Enforcement Architecture, another cross-ministry campaign built on multi-agency design.

Quick Q&A

• Global TB goal year? 2030.
• India target year? 2025.
• Ni-kshay Mitra adopts for? Six months.
• Nutrition support now? ₹1,000 a month.
• Districts in 100-day drive? 347.