3 min readNew DelhiJun 7, 2026 04:17 AM IST
First published on: Jun 6, 2026 at 03:44 PM IST
Union Health Minister J P Nadda hit out at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday, saying that “public health is too important to be reduced to political rhetoric” after Kharge alleged the BJP government was hiding National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 data and advertising “Sabka Saath” and “Amrit Kaal”.
“Shri Kharge ji’s half-knowledge is dangerous. Public health is too important to be reduced to political rhetoric. Selective reading may serve politics, but facts serve the nation,” Nadda said in a post on X, adding that NFHS-6 data demonstrates the transformation of India’s health ecosystem.
Nadda compared the results with NFHS-3, conducted in 2005-06—subsequent surveys took place during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s term in 2015-16 and then in 2019-21—stating that registrations for ante-natal care had gone up from 43.9 per cent to 76.2 per cent and institutional deliveries from just 38.7 per cent to 90.6 per cent. The proportion of births attended by a skilled health worker had also increased from 46.6 per cent to 91.3 per cent.
In comparison, the number of women who received antenatal care stood at 58.6 per cent and 70 per cent in the intervening surveys. The number of institutional deliveries stood at 78.9 per cent and 88.6 per cent. And, the proportion of births attended by a skilled health worker stood at 81.4 per cent and 89.4 per cent in the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5, respectively.
“These are not mere statistics. They represent millions of mothers receiving timely care, safer deliveries and better health outcomes,” Nadda said.
‘BJP’s absolute incompetence unmasked’
Two days ago, in a post on X, Kharge said: “Not only does the Modi Govt betrays India’s women and children on healthcare and nutrition, but it also deliberately hides crucial data which exposes its failures! Absolute incompetence of the BJP has been unmasked by the NFHS-6 data!”
He went on to elaborate that one in five children suffer from acute malnutrition, one-third of Indian children are underweight, and more than 84 per cent of children aged six to 23 months do not receive adequate nutrition, according to NFHS-6.
He also mentioned the data on anaemia from the previous round of data—57 per cent of women between 15 and 49 years are anaemic as per NFHS-5, he said.
Data on the estimation of anaemia prevalence was removed from the current NFHS survey, with experts stating that peripheral blood from a prick test can overestimate anaemia burden and an IV blood draw is a better method for estimation of the true anaemia burden. The new type of anaemia estimation will be a part of the ICMR Diet and Biomarker Survey (DABS), which is to be released soon. The challenge, however, is that the previous NFHS data and the DABS data would not be comparable.
“BJP’s 5-step formula to hide its sins: Bury selected data, Abandon the vulnerable, Advertise “Sabka Saath” & “Amrit Kaal”, Manipulate the narrative, Protect Modi ji’s PR at all costs!” Kharge said in his post.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda slammed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for his 'selective reading' of National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 data. (File Photos)
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