Personal details must to get polio drops from Nov, says Govt

Questioning the authenticity of data provided by states on number of children administered polio drops, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said recording personal details of beneficiaries would be made compulsory from November.

However, quoting the same data he said "polio is almost eradicated", except in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, as the total number of cases has come down to 560 in 2008 from 1,126 a decade earlier in the country.

Centre has instructed states to maintain details like name, address, and contact number of children administered oral polio vaccine, he said in the Rajya Sabha.

This step would prevent any manipulation in statistics, Azad said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour. He said the Centre receives data from states without verifying their authenticity.

"I am not satisfied with the authenticity of statistics provided by states. We give incentives to states but we have nothing to prove how many drops have been given," he said.

When Najma Heptulla (BJP) wanted to know if a survey was carried out to find out whether oral drops were administered in the 560 identified polio cases, Azad wondered, "what will be the result of a survey when statistics are not authentic."

He said out of 560 polio cases detected in the country, 305 are in Uttar Pradesh and 233 in Bihar.