The Nikshay Poshan Yojana is a government scheme in India that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April of 2018 with the aim of helping tuberculosis patients. The scheme is working towards the betterment of patients with tuberculosis (TB) by providing them with 500 rupees per month for them to buy food.
In less than a year, by the February of 2019, the scheme had reportedly helped more than 10,000 people in Delhi, as well as around 3800 more people who were receiving these benefits in the district of Sonitpur. The Nikshay Poshan Yojana is managed by a government body called the Health and Family Welfare Department. This is a very important topic for the IAS Exam.
All competitive exam aspirants must also review the List of Government Schemes in India which contribute to the social and economic development of the country.
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The Objective of the Nikshay Poshan Yojana
According to the report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), India holds at least two-thirds of the global TB cases in 2020, along with seven other countries. However, the disease is no longer incurable as preventive and curative medicines were already developed years ago. Therefore, such high rates of infection result from not getting the proper nutrition that helps in facilitating the potency of the said medicines.
Through the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, the Central Government of India has taken it upon itself to help the TB patient afford good nutritious food that will help fend off the disease and bring down the death rate by a large margin. Surveys show that this initiative by the government has helped bring down the death rate to a good extent.
Nikshay Poshan Yojana UPSC, as a topic, holds a good weightage and, hence, must be studied thoroughly.
Response to the Nikshay Poshan Yojana
Since its inception in April of 2018, the Nikshay Poshan Yojana has received a lot of praise from the citizens of the country, and the overall response has been majorly positive. Additionally, a report showed that a patient advocacy group called Survivors Against TB has made several public requests to the government to increase the number of benefits the scheme offers to draw in more applicants and decrease the mortality rate even further.
However, a downside amid the majorly positive response received by the scheme was that in 2018, the amount of enrolment from the state of Assam was worse than expected.
These detailed information pieces are important for the Current Affairs section of the upcoming Public Service Commission exams.
Challenges Faced by the Nikshay Poshan Yojana
The Nikshay Poshan Yojana was very well received by the people of the country. However, it still faces a lot of challenges. Various reports and studies conducted on the participation of patients in the programme found that about half of the eligible patients did not receive their benefits. Further, many people who were eligible for the programme received the payment five months after the launch of the scheme.
These challenges of sending out the payments to the eligible beneficiaries occurred mostly due to the fact that many beneficiaries did not have any bank account. Further, various eligible patients had difficulty in applying for the programme. Finally, various people who were not credible applied for the programme as well, which led to slower handling of things.
To understand the significance of Nikshay Poshan Yojana reasonably for your UPSC prelims, you must be well versed with the challenges the programme has faced.
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Frequently Asked Questions on the Nikshay Poshan Yojana UPSC
What is a patient advocacy group?
A patient advocacy group is an organisation that specialises in the health care sector with the advocacy of patients and/or survivors of a particular type of disease or disorder. The type of issues these groups deal with are matters of rights and privacy of the patients and their confidentiality, raising awareness, and giving support to these patients amongst various others.
What is tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis or TB is a very serious bacterial infection that mainly affects the lungs of an individual and can potentially prove to be fatal if not diagnosed and treated during its early stages. TB is also a very contagious disease that can spread through tiny droplets in the air from coughs and sneezes from an infected person.
TB has three stages:
1. Exposure: The bacteria enter the body of the individual in the first stage.
2. Latent: The bacteria lie latent in the body of the patient and slowly infects the patient
3. Active Disease: The disease fully develops inside the lungs of the patient, which turns him into a host.
What are some other programmes like the Nikshay Poshan Yojana taken by the Indian Government against other diseases?
Some of the other initiatives that the government has taken against diseases are the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and the National Programme for Prevention & Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases & Stroke (NPCDCS).
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