Discuss the role of community mobilisation and technology in accelerating TB elimination in India, with reference to recent initiatives.

India has the world's largest TB burden. Yet the WHO Global TB Report 2025 shows its TB incidence fell 21% over 2015–2024, against 12% globally [1][4]. Two levers of the National TB Elimination Programme drive this faster decline: a Jan Andolan (people's movement), and technology that finds and tracks cases.

Role of community mobilisation

• Nutrition support: Under the PM TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, Ni-kshay Mitras (citizens, CSR firms, NGOs) adopt patients for at least six months [2]. This support now extends to household contacts [2]. Over 5.7 lakh new Ni-kshay Mitras have joined [1].
• Youth outreach: JOSH (Joint Squad for Health) teams of MY Bharat volunteers and NCC cadets work under a Class-I officer. They are being piloted in 55 districts of 11 states to spread awareness and fight stigma [1].
• Local ownership: 46,118 Gram Panchayats certified TB-free build accountability at the grassroots [1].
• Mass campaigns: The 100-Day Abhiyaan screened 12.97 crore vulnerable people and detected 7.19 lakh cases [3].

Role of technology

• Active case-finding: Use of handheld X-rays has grown 34-fold, and AI-based triage helps decide who needs a test [1]. Such screening reaches hidden cases: 2.85 lakh of the cases found in the 100-day drive had no symptoms [3].
• Digital tracking: The Ni-kshay portal, built with NIC and WHO India, tracks patients [2]. It also routes Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana payments of ₹1,000 a month by DBT [2].
• Information access: The TB Mukt Bharat App has an AI chatbot, 'Khushi', that answers patients' questions [1].
• Evidence and drugs: An indigenous TB burden model gives state-wise estimates [2]. All-oral regimens for drug-resistant TB raised treatment success from 68% to 75% [2].
• Together, these cut "missing" cases from 15 lakh (2015) to 2.5 lakh (2023) [2].

Limitations

• Gains are campaign-driven, so screening may lapse when drives end.
• Food for household contacts relies on voluntary donors, so coverage is uneven [2].
• India missed its 2025 elimination target. Globally too, the decline fell far short of the 50% End TB milestone [4].
• Falling global TB funding threatens continuity [2].

Community mobilisation and technology complement each other: one builds trust, the other finds and tracks cases at scale. Two steps can sustain these gains. First, make AI-enabled X-ray screening routine at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. Second, back Ni-kshay Mitra support with budgeted nutrition. Together, these can turn India's faster-than-global decline into elimination by the SDG 3.3 deadline of 2030.