Health services saw a leap in last one year: Nadda

Healthcare services have seen a leap in the one year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said on Thursday.

Listing his government's achievements, Nadda said the health ministry has launched a massive immunisation campaign to target nearly 90 lakh children who are either not vaccinated or have been partially vaccinated.

The campaign Mission Indradhanush was launched in December last year.

"We are taking the help of pulse polio campaign workers to reach out to children and since the campaign began, approximately 40 lakh immunisations have taken place," the minister told a press conference here.

Nadda said there has been a five percent increase in immunisation in every phase since the launch of the campaign on April 7.

He added that there has been a considerable improvement in routine immunisation in the country also.

"Our aim is to reduce infant mortality rate to one digit per 1,000," he said.

"We are now planning to eradicate Kala Azar and have formed an action plan on targetting TB," he said.

The minister also launched a website and a mobile app for Mission Indradhanush.

Nadda claimed that the government has made efforts to empower the states and the political culture of the entire country has changed in the last one year.

"The political culture of the country has changed towards a positive direction," he added.

"The yardsticks, the benchmarks and the issues related to governance have completely changed. The power brokers have disappeared," he said.

The health minister said states have been empowered in this regime. "States have got financial powers to form their own programmes."

Nadda listed the launch of the Atal Pension Scheme and Jan Dhan Yojna among the achievements of the Modi government.

"Within one year, the government has managed to give financial security to the people of the country," he said.

Nadda also mentioned the coal and spectrum allocation scams of the UPA government.

He said budgetary allocation has been made for construction of 50,000 km of rural roads.