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Union Health Ministry sources said the indicators claimed to person been "omitted" successful the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 Fact Sheets are being monitored done dedicated nationalist surveys and administrative databases, and truthful were not duplicated successful the preliminary release.
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This comes aft disapproval by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who questioned the exclusion of definite cardinal wellness and nutrition indicators from the precocious released NFHS-6 Fact Sheets and alleged that the information reflected shortcomings successful the government's healthcare and nutrition policies.
Senior officials successful the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said the information sheets correspond lone the archetypal signifier of dissemination and screen 101 large indicators intended to supply a concise snapshot of India's astir captious wellness and demographic trends.
"The information sheets are the archetypal signifier of dissemination. The elaborate nationalist study volition supply a overmuch broader picture," they said.
It volition beryllium released subsequently with a overmuch wider scope of indicators, elaborate analyses, and methodological documentation, they added.
Responding to concerns implicit the lack of immoderate indicators, officials said the nonsubjective was to amended coherence crossed India's expanding statistical ecosystem.
"The nonsubjective is to guarantee that each indicator is reported done the astir due and authoritative source, reducing duplication and improving wide information coherence," an authoritative root said.
Officials noted that respective indicators cited arsenic missing from the information sheets are already being monitored done dedicated nationalist systems.
Sanitation and cleanable cooking substance coverage, for instance, are tracked done specialised surveys and administrative platforms specified arsenic Swachh Survekshan Grameen and surveys conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, making duplication wrong the information sheets unnecessary they said.
Similarly, cardinal statistic relating to mortality, commencement registration, and colonisation characteristics proceed to beryllium generated done established systems specified arsenic the Sample Registration System (SRS), Civil Registration System (CRS), and Census framework, which stay the country's designated sources for these indicators.
Officials besides addressed questions regarding the lack of anaemia estimates successful the information sheets.
They explained that haemoglobin investigating was not undertaken successful NFHS-6 owed to concerns surrounding the capillary humor sampling methodology utilized successful erstwhile rounds.
Instead, anaemia prevalence estimates volition beryllium derived from the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Diet and Biomarkers Survey, which employs gold-standard venous humor sampling methods to amended accuracy and reliability.
According to officials, the determination reflects an effort to fortify the prime of wellness information alternatively than trim the survey's scope.
Far from narrowing the survey's coverage, NFHS-6 has introduced respective caller indicators into the information sheets, including colonisation composition, aged colonisation share, fiscal inclusion, antenatal attraction utilisation, vaccination coverage, terrible diarrhoeal illness prevalence, and expanded breastfeeding indicators.
Officials besides clarified that respective indicators not reflected successful the information sheets person not been dropped and volition beryllium presented successful greater item successful the afloat nationalist report.
These see granular household readying indicators, selected kid wellness interventions, further aspects related to women's health, and HIV-related findings.
They said that NFHS remains India's largest and astir broad household wellness survey and continues to service arsenic a cornerstone for evidence-based policymaking.
The last nationalist study is presently being prepared successful consultation with method experts, applicable ministries, and improvement partners earlier its release, officials said.
The NFHS questionnaire undergoes periodic refinement to bespeak emerging argumentation priorities portion maintaining survey prime and reducing responsive burden, a signifier commonly followed by large household surveys worldwide, the Health Ministry sources said.
The improvement of the NFHS reporting model reflects the increasing maturity of India's statistical architecture, wherever aggregate specialised surveys and administrative databases progressively complement 1 different to supply a much comprehensive, accurate, and policy-relevant representation of the country's improvement journey," they said.
Mr. Kharge connected Thursday (June 4) claimed that the "absolute incompetence" of the BJP has been "unmasked" by the NFHS-6 information and alleged that the Modi authorities has betrayed India's women and children connected healthcare and nutrition.
Mr. Kharge said the BJP has a five-step look to fell its "sins".
He accused the BJP of burying selected data, abandoning the vulnerable, advertizing "Sabka Saath" and "Amrit Kaal", manipulating the communicative and protecting "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's PR astatine each costs".
"Not lone does the Modi authorities betray India's women and children connected healthcare and nutrition, but it besides deliberately hides important information which exposes its failures!" Mr. Kharge said connected X.
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda deed backmost astatine Mr. Kharge connected Saturday (June 6, 2026), saying "half-knowledge is dangerous" and asserting that the latest information reflects important improvements successful India's healthcare indicators nether the Modi government.
Mr. Nadda accused the Congress president of selectively speechmaking the survey findings for governmental purposes.
