Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana

Indian Economy glossary

Also called: NPY · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) is a government scheme that gives cash to TB patients so they can buy better food while they are on treatment. It is part of the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. It exists because undernutrition (not eating enough to stay healthy) is a comorbidity of TB. A comorbidity is a second condition that makes the first one worse. A poorly fed patient falls sick more easily, recovers more slowly and is more likely to stop treatment. The cash also lowers what TB costs a family. This supports the WHO End TB Strategy target that no TB-affected family should face catastrophic costs, meaning spending so much on illness that the family falls into financial crisis.

Example

A daily-wage worker in Bihar gets TB and cannot work for months. Under NPY, the government pays cash to them during treatment. The family can buy food without borrowing, and the patient is more likely to finish the full course of medicines.

Don't confuse with

  • Ni-kshay Mitra: this is community support, not a government cash payment. Individuals, companies, co-operatives and NGOs "adopt" TB patients and give food baskets, diagnostic help and vocational support. It was part of the PM TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, launched on 9 September 2022.
  • Ni-kshay portal: this is the digital platform for tracking patients and monitoring treatment. It is a record-keeping tool, not a benefit scheme.

Recent developments

  • Monthly cash doubled (from 1 November 2024): NPY support went up from ₹500 to ₹1,000 a month, paid through DBT (direct benefit transfer, meaning money sent straight to the patient's bank account). This matters because ₹500 was too little to make up for lost wages and better food during months of treatment.
  • Support extended to families (announced in 2024): the Health Ministry extended nutrition support to TB patients' families, not just the patients. This matters because household members share the same home and the same poor diet, so they are the people most likely to get TB next. The scheme now does some prevention, not only help during cure.
  • Scale of payouts (Health Ministry figures, 2024): about ₹4,322 crore has gone to 1.35 crore patients since the scheme began in April 2018. This makes NPY one of the largest DBT-based health nutrition schemes. At this size, even a small share of failed or late payments leaves lakhs of patients without support.

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