Maharashtra has detected 6,111 new tuberculosis (TB) cases within the first 35 days of the Centre's 100-Day TB-Free India campaign, while an AI-based assessment system has identified 11,091 villages across the state as high-risk, Public Health Minister Prakash Abitkar informed the legislative assembly on Wednesday.
In a written reply, Abitkar said the villages were flagged under the "100-Day TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan" through an artificial intelligence-based risk assessment system developed by the Centre. Among the districts with the highest number of identified high-risk villages were Yavatmal (539), Amravati (504), Nashik (488), Raigad (488) and Nagpur (482).
The minister, however, rejected claims that tuberculosis prevalence was unusually high in Vidarbha's cotton-growing belt or in tribal-dominated regions of the state.
"Under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, risk-based screening, active case finding and registration on the Nikshay portal are carried out regularly in all districts. No specific geographical area has been found to have an abnormally high burden of tuberculosis," he said.
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Providing district-wise details, Abitkar said Latur recorded 729 new TB patients between January and April 2026. The district currently has 1,020 patients undergoing treatment.
In Ahilyanagar district, 4,493 new TB cases and 92 deaths were reported during 2025. Between January and May this year, another 1,846 new TB patients and 10 deaths were recorded, according to the minister's reply.
Abitkar also dismissed concerns that a shortage of AI-enabled diagnostic equipment and CB-NAAT machines was delaying diagnosis and treatment of TB patients in the state.
He said Maharashtra has significantly expanded its diagnostic infrastructure, with 117 AI-based handheld X-ray machines, 171 CB-NAAT machines and 746 TrueNAAT machines currently in operation.
According to the minister, the state now has a total of 917 advanced TB diagnostic machines, strengthening early detection and treatment efforts under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme and supporting the Centre's target of eliminating the disease.
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