Chandigarh, March 15 Approximately 35% of all village councils in Haryana were found eligible for TB-free certification by 2025 after verification, Sumita Misra, Additional Chief Secretary of the health department, said on Sunday.
According to Misra, the state has made significant progress under the "TB Mukt Panchayat" initiative, with 2,157 out of the 6,237 village councils being declared free of the disease.
The "TB Mukt Panchayat" initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on World Tuberculosis Day in Varanasi on March 24, 2023.
The objective of the initiative is to empower Panchayati Raj Institutions to understand the extent and magnitude of problems associated with tuberculosis, take necessary actions towards solving them, and foster healthy competition among village councils while recognizing their contribution towards TB elimination.
According to an official statement released here on Sunday, Misra said the increase in TB-free village council certifications under the "TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan" over the past three years reflects the increasing momentum of the program at the grassroots level.
In 2023, the state secured 574 certifications, all in the "bronze" category, accounting for just 9% of all village councils. By 2024, this figure nearly tripled to 1,855 village councils, comprising 1,542 bronze and 313 silver certifications, covering 30% of the state's village councils, she said.
In 2025, the number rose further to 2,157 eligible village councils, covering 35% of the total.
Misra explained that the initiative follows a three-tier certification structure.
Village councils that maintain a TB-free status for the first year are eligible for bronze certification, those maintaining it for two consecutive years receive silver certification, and those sustaining it for three consecutive years are awarded gold certification.
Certificates are issued annually on World TB Day by the deputy commissioner, with a one-year validity.
Six indicators are used for the submission and verification of claims, which are validated by the district development and Panchayati Raj officer, civil surgeon, and deputy civil surgeon (TB) from another district, before a village council can be declared TB-free.
Of the 2,157 village councils found eligible in 2025, 211 have qualified for gold status, 646 for silver status, and 1,300 for bronze status.
Misra said the verification process ensures that only those village councils that genuinely meet all six prescribed indicators (as per the Government of India) are certified as TB-free, lending credibility and integrity to the program.
She added that Haryana remains committed to accelerating progress under the "TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan," and that the consistent year-on-year growth in TB-free village council certifications reflects the active participation of local governance institutions in the state's TB elimination efforts.