Madhya Pradesh, once criticised over malnutrition and anaemia, has now emerged as a leading health model in the country. In the recently released Anaemia Mukt Bharat (ABM) Index 2025–26 report, the state secured the top position nationwide.
Overtaking Andhra Pradesh, which ranked first last year, Madhya Pradesh scored 92.1 points, higher than the national average.
The achievement has been credited to extensive grassroots efforts by ASHA workers, Anganwadi staff and school health teams, who carried out door-to-door distribution of Iron-Folic Acid (IFA) tablets and syrup among children, adolescent girls and women. The data was updated weekly on the Anaemia Mukt Bharat portal.
According to the report, IFA coverage among children aged 6 to 59 months reached 80.4%, while coverage among pregnant and lactating women touched the 95% target, considered the programme’s “ceiling value”.
According to experts- Major reason for the state’s success was not just the implementation of schemes, but also accurate data entry in the HMIS system and regular monitoring.
Where many states lagged behind in data reporting, Madhya Pradesh ensured regular reporting every month right up to the village, school and Anganwadi level.
MP sent regular data from every district… In this year’s Anaemia Mukt Bharat ranking, not just work, but a strong reporting system also became MP’s biggest strength.
All 52 districts of the state did ‘full reporting’ of folic acid distribution in schools continuously for 12 months. On this basis, MP left other states behind.
Where MP sent regular data from every district, in Uttar Pradesh, 74 out of 75 districts remained in the incomplete or non-reporting category.
Rajasthan’s performance was also weak. The state, which was in 19th position last year, has now dropped to 23rd position this time.
