PM Modi hails India’s health, social security milestones in 'Mann Ki Baat'

New Delhi, Jun 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded two major national achievements in public health and social security during his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, calling them milestones that “will fill every Indian with pride.” Citing praise from global organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Prime Minister said India has been declared Trachoma-free by WHO, marking a major public health victory, and that over 64% of the Indian population now benefits from some form of social protection, as recognised in a recent ILO report.

“WHO has declared India Trachoma-free. This is the result of the hard work of lakhs of people who fought this disease tirelessly,” PM Modi said, noting that Trachoma, a bacterial infection that once caused widespread preventable blindness in India, had been eradicated after years of dedicated public health campaigns. “This success belongs to our health workers,” he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted that flagship programmes like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Jal Jeevan Mission played a key role in tackling the root causes of the disease by improving hygiene and ensuring clean water access.

“Today, when clean water is reaching every home through taps, the risk of such ailments has reduced,” he said, adding that WHO had also commended India for eliminating the conditions that allowed Trachoma to thrive.

Turning to the second achievement, Modi referenced a new ILO report that shows India’s social security coverage has expanded dramatically. “More than 64% of the population of India is now definitely availing of some social protection benefit or the other,” he said, calling it one of the largest social protection systems in the world. “Today, around 95 crore people of the country are getting the benefit of some or the other social security schemes; whereas, till 2015, the government schemes were reaching less than 25 crore people,” he said. The Prime Minister called this expansion a reflection of social justice and inclusive governance. “From health to social security, the country is moving ahead with the feeling of saturation in every field,” he said, expressing confidence that these strides would make India “even stronger at every step.”