{"id":12725,"date":"2025-08-11T17:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T11:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/?p=12725"},"modified":"2025-12-22T18:11:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:41:21","slug":"devendra-fadnavis-leprosy-eradication-initiatives-in-maharashtra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/beinghuman\/devendra-fadnavis-leprosy-eradication-initiatives-in-maharashtra\/","title":{"rendered":"Devendra Fadnavis&#8217;s Leprosy Eradication Program and Leprosy Rehabilitation Schemes\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leprosy receives society\u2019s disgust, and its sufferers live in isolated colonies. Although the disease is completely curable through modern-age treatment, timely intervention and human compassion are key factors besides medications. This tenet is the foundation of the Leprosy Eradication Program and the Leprosy Rehabilitation Scheme of the Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, which ensures a more comprehensive, sensitive, and effective approach by his government to address the treatment and rehab for the lepers. However, leprosy eradication cannot be a government program alone; Maharashtra Sevak CM Fadnavis has also endeavoured to bring together administration, social organizations, and society at large for the cause of the lepers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fund Announcement | &#039;\u092f\u093e&#039; \u0915\u093e\u092e\u093e\u0938\u093e\u0920\u0940 \u20b910 \u0915\u094b\u091f\u0940 \u0915\u0949\u0930\u094d\u092a\u0938 \u092b\u0902\u0921 \u0926\u0947\u0923\u094d\u092f\u093e\u091a\u0940 \u0918\u094b\u0937\u0923\u093e | CM Devendra Fadnavis\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G95_6uL-l3U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leprosy patients are considered outcasts and are ostracized from mainstream society. Due to social isolation, lack of income and healthcare, and the absence of any other options in life, these patients suffer immensely. The disease weakens them physically, but they also endure significant mental distress. Against this backdrop, the central government and the Maharashtra state government are making special efforts to curb leprosy and provide patients with better treatment, psychological support, and the opportunity to live with dignity. In 2015, there were 9.73 leprosy patients per lakh population in India. Today, in 2025, this figure has decreased to 5.52 per lakh. The battle against leprosy is bearing fruit; the Fadnavis government is keen to take this battle further with a holistic approach. During his first term as Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis\u2019s contribution for leprosy patients entailed taking steps to improve the lives of leprosy patients through comprehensive measures, including healthcare treatment, social inclusion, financial assistance, and institutional support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:20px\"><strong>Leprosy rehabilitation NGOs grant increased by threefold<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Devendra Fadnavis government has extended the 2012 decision to<a href=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Maharashtra-government-gr-12-march-2012.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> provide grants to private NGOs<\/a>. This has significantly increased the grants for the organizations engaged in leprosy causes, based on both hospital-based and rehabilitation-based principles. The state government has decided to triple the grant, which was Rs 2,200 per patient per month in 2012. In 2025, organizations working on the hospital-based principle will receive Rs 6,600 per patient, while those working on the rehabilitation-based principle will receive Rs 6,000 per patient. The Mahayuti government took this decision from a humanitarian perspective, considering the mental and social suffering of leprosy patients. Meanwhile, the Mahayuti government had made a provision of \u20b94.50 crore in the 2025-26 financial year budget for providing grants to NGOs working on the rehabilitation of leprosy patients. From this provision,<a href=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/maharashtra-government-gr-6-august-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> a grant of \u20b977,33,208 was distributed<\/a> among 10 NGOs working for leprosy patients. These 10 organizations are directly providing treatment to 3,925 patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Dev_Fadnavis\/status\/1888546936829198592\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/devendra-fadnavis-anandwan.png\" alt=\"Anandwan corpus fund \" class=\"wp-image-12736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/devendra-fadnavis-anandwan.png 576w, https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/devendra-fadnavis-anandwan-300x270.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:20px\"><strong>A corpus fund of Rs 10 crore for Anandwan<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This decision by the state government is directly benefiting more than 30 well-known NGOs in the state. These are organizations that have been working for years on the treatment, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of leprosy patients. Among these organizations, Anandwan, Maharogi Seva Samiti, Leprosy Control Committee-NERE, Leprosy Hospital, and Vidarbha Maharogi Seva Mandal are at the forefront. Although the central government has pledged to make India leprosy-free by 2027, this goal will only be achieved through the contributions of such NGOs. Devendra Fadnavis visited Anandwan in Chandrapur in February 2025 on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. At this event, he promoted the organization&#8217;s work by inaugurating a multi-specialty hospital, a women&#8217;s health department, an organ donation department, solar projects, and skill development centres, and at the same time announced the decision to increase the grants given to such organizations. He also announced a Rs 10 crore fund for Anandwan. He further stated that efforts were underway to provide an additional Rs 65 crore. This decision reflects the Chief Minister&#8217;s humanitarian spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After coming to power in 2014, Devendra Fadnavis&#8217;s government took a crucial decision to establish <a href=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/maharashtra-government-gr-17-december-2015.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a Cabinet Committee on Leprosy Eradication<\/a>, chaired by the Chief Minister himself. This committee, formed in 2015, included more than 16 members from various departments, including the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. Leprosy eradication was not limited to the Health Department alone but involved a multi-sectoral approach. This ensured that leprosy patients received support from various sectors such as social welfare, housing, employment, education, and women&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2019, Devendra Fadnavis launched the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana for<a href=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cabinet-decision-9-september-2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> leprosy patients<\/a>. This new scheme provided an additional grant of \u20b91.5 lakh, in addition to the \u20b92.5 lakh grant available under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Prime Minister&#8217;s Housing Scheme). So, jointly, these two schemes provided leprosy patients with a total grant of \u20b94 lakh, which <a href=\"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/maharashtra-government-gr-11-september-2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">helped them to own homes and live with dignity <\/a>and self-respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:20px\"><strong>A holistic approach towards a leprosy-free India by 2027<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While starting several government initiatives to eradicate leprosy and improve the lives of its sufferers, Devendra Fadnavis also acknowledged the role of non-government organizations (NGOs) that are engaged in the treatment and care of leprosy patients and provided them with financial assistance. The battle against leprosy is not just a fight against a disease but also about rehabilitating patients, providing income opportunities, and inspiring them to move on in life, overcoming social stigma. With this holistic objective in view, the Maharashtra government under CM Devendra Fadnavis is working in tandem with the central government towards making Maharashtra and India leprosy-free by 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leprosy receives society\u2019s disgust, and its sufferers live in isolated colonies. Although the disease is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beinghuman"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12725"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13475,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12725\/revisions\/13475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devgatha.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}