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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday urged Members of Parliament to transform the 'TB Mukt Bharat' and 'Nasha Mukt Bharat' campaigns into a 'Jan-Andolan' (people's movement) and foster healthy competition among themselves to achieve the goal of making India Tuberculosis (TB)-free by 2025.
Inaugurating a friendly cricket match among Members of Parliament across political parties to raise awareness about the 'TB Mukt Bharat' and 'Nasha Mukt Bharat' campaigns at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, he emphasised that mass awareness and public participation are critical for success in the fight against TB and drug addiction. Birla underscored the importance of eradicating TB and drug addiction to build a healthy society. He invoked the spirit of 'healthy competition', encouraging every parliamentary constituency to strive to become TB-free, ultimately contributing to the goal of a TB-free India. The Speaker highlighted the responsibility of elected representatives in combating TB. He urged public representatives to actively support social programmes and government initiatives aimed at disease prevention, leveraging their experience in addressing illness prevention and post-illness care. Birla pointed out that Tuberculosis (TB) poses significant challenges, particularly for the poor. He stressed the need for a national commitment to overcome these difficulties. Referring to the World Health Organization's (WHO) global target of eliminating TB by 2030, he noted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India has set a more ambitious goal of eliminating TB by 2025. He further emphasised that achieving this target requires the active cooperation of all Members of Parliament, as they represent India's 1.4 billion citizens in Parliament. Birla urged them to work with determination to ensure India becomes TB-free by 2025. Acknowledging that the initiative to eliminate TB has been championed by Parliament, Birla highlighted the responsibility of parliamentarians to drive it forward. He called for India's democratic framework--from Panchayats to Parliament--to work with unwavering commitment to realise this goal. In the friendly cricket match aimed at raising awareness for a TB-free India, the Lok Sabha Speaker XI emerged victorious, winning by 73 runs. (ANI)
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