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TB Mukt Panchayat – 46,118 gram panchayats certified TB-free nationwide; 2,390 in Tamil Nadu

18-10-2026 · English

TB Mukt Panchayat – 46,118 gram panchayats certified TB-free nationwide; 2,390 in Tamil Nadu

Topics: Health · 18 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

According to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) note of 14 Oct 2026 on the Union Health Ministry's National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), 46,118 gram panchayats across India have been certified TB-free under the 'TB Mukt Panchayat' initiative. As per the WHO Global TB Report 2025, India's new TB cases fell 21% between 2015 and 2024 (12% globally) and deaths fell 28%. In Tamil Nadu, 2,390 village panchayats were certified TB-free for 2025.

Key facts

Launch24 Mar 2023 – One World TB Summit, Varanasi – PM Modi
MinistryUnion Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Central TB Division); implemented through panchayats
CriteriaPresumptive-TB testing rate, notification rate (mandatory) + drug-susceptibility testing, treatment adherence, nutrition, Ni-kshay Poshan payment
AwardMahatma Gandhi statuette with certificate – bronze (1 yr), silver (2 yrs), gold (3 yrs); given by the District Collector on World TB Day
Ni-kshay PoshanSince 2018 (₹500 a month); doubled to ₹1,000 in 2024 (DBT)
100-day campaign7 Dec 2024 – 347 districts in 33 States/UTs; later nationwide

Background

  • Science: tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis; it spreads through the air and mostly affects the lungs. The day Robert Koch announced discovering the germ (24 March 1882) is marked as World TB Day. The vaccine for children is BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin).
  • Programme history: the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) was renamed the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) in 2020. India set a goal of ending TB by 2025, five years ahead of the UN SDG (3.3) target of 2030.
  • PM TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan – 9 Sep 2022: a people's movement (Jan Andolan) in which 'Ni-kshay Mitra' donors give nutrition kits to patients.
  • Polity: public health is a State List subject (Seventh Schedule); the Eleventh Schedule (73rd Amendment) gives panchayats 'health and sanitation' – the basis for the TB Mukt Panchayat effort.

Tamil Nadu link: 2,390 village panchayats in TN were certified TB-free in 2025; 93,203 cases were detected in 2025 and 48,469 in Jan–June 2026 (Health Minister K.G. Arunraj, July 2026). Since April 2022, the 'Tamil Nadu Kasanoi Erappila Thittam' (TN-KET, TB death-free project) triages severely ill patients at diagnosis (severe undernutrition, breathlessness, inability to stand) and admits them, cutting deaths.

Source: PIB note (14 Oct 2026, via Kashmir Thunder); Central TB Division – TB Mukt Panchayat Handbook (Mar 2023); Drishti IAS (25 Mar 2023); NewKerala/IANS (23 Jul 2026); CivilsDaily (TN-KET)

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