• Realizing the importance of community engagement in disease control, the government launched ‘TB Mukt Panchayat’ (TB-free village council) on March 24, 2023.

• The first two indicators are mandatory for a village to obtain a ‘TB-free’ certification valid for one year, and in the rest, three out of four should be achieved in more than 80% of geographical units.

• Recently, a published review gave a detailed idea of how this initiative could help the country eliminate TB.

• Some of this initiative's strengths include its facilitation of multisectoral collaboration, incorporation of local self-government schemes, and focus on health promotion, not just treatment.

• However, some of its weaknesses include a lack of regular monitoring, overemphasizing certification, neglecting sustainability, and lacking TB surveillance data at the panchayat level.

• A few of the recommendations to strengthen this initiative include:

1. Regular training and capacity building.

2. Use of weighted process indicators.

3. Incorporation of this data into the Nikshay portal.

4. Local adaptation of the strategies to cater to specific populations.

• This initiative is key to shaping our country’s future, and implementing it correctly can help achieve the End TB goals.

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