MF AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 12: The University Grants Commission (UGC) Delhi has asked its entire fleet of universities and colleges to work for the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan. Secretary of the UGC Prof Rajnish Jain has sent a missive to this effect to all the vice-chancellors of the universities and principals of the colleges in the country.
Under NTEP (national tuberculosis elimination programme) Ni Akshay Mitra 2.0, the affluent are urged to adopt TB patients for whom they will be providing food baskets for a minimum of six months as part of nutritional supplements as poor TB patients suffer from a deficiency of food.
Nilamber Pitamber university in Daltonganj is also in receipt of this letter, said the registrar of the university Dr Rakesh Kumar.
Registrar of NPU said, “We have received the letter of the UGC secretary in this connection just about ten or twelve days ago. We are working on it. We believe our university and colleges will take initiative soon.”
The secretary of UGC has asked the vice-chancellors/principals to disseminate the information regarding the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan which aims at eliminating TB by 2025 in India.
Notably, TB is a silent killer as it takes a toll on two human lives every five minutes in the country.
The UGC asks the universities to be a stakeholder in the ‘enhanced community engagement’ in the battle against TB. They also ask for the support and participation of university officials and academics in the fight against TB.
Dr Srivastav said the cost of a food basket for one TB patient for one month comes to around Rs 800.
The food basket is not to carry any costlier fruits or dry fruits. It has pulses, grams, peanuts, mustard oil and jaggery. There are three optional food namely milk powder, sattu and Horlicks.
He said sattu is the most preferred item of food for everyone TB patient or healthy patient.
Palamu district TB officer said he and his team would meet the VC Dr Ram Lakhan Singh and pro-vice-chancellor Dr Deepnarayan Yadav in this regard very soon.
