On World Polio Day, 24 October 2026, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari called on the nation — and the world — to hold firm on the unfinished work of polio eradication, stressing that every child is entitled to protection through timely vaccination and accessible healthcare.

A milestone hard-won — and still worth defending

India's polio-free status, certified by the WHO in 2014, was not handed down — it was built over nearly two decades through the Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme, launched in 1995. At its peak, the campaign mobilised millions of health workers to reach children in the most remote corners of the country with oral vaccine on fixed National Immunization Days. That sustained, boots-on-the-ground effort is exactly the model Gadkari's message implicitly endorses.

The achievement matters globally, too. India's elimination of wild poliovirus removed a massive reservoir of transmission risk from the world's most densely populated region. But eradication is not the same as elimination — so long as the virus persists anywhere, the threat of re-importation through porous borders remains real.

The global map polio still holds

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative continues to monitor endemic transmission, primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan — India's immediate neighbourhood. Cross-border surveillance between South Asian countries remains a critical line of defence, making Gadkari's call for collective resolve more than rhetorical. The shared geography means a gap in one country's vaccination coverage is a gap in everyone's.

World Polio Day — observed annually on 24 October — was established to honour Jonas Salk, the scientist whose birth anniversary falls on this date and who developed the first safe and effective polio vaccine. It has since become a rallying point for governments, health agencies, and civil society to audit progress and renew commitments.

Why a road minister's health message lands differently

Gadkari's portfolio sits squarely in infrastructure, not public health — which is precisely why the post carries a distinct signal. Senior government voices speaking across portfolio lines on vaccination amplify political will beyond any single ministry. It is a reminder that polio eradication, like road-building, requires coordination across every level of government and every community.

Routine immunisation coverage — not just pulse campaigns — is the long game. As India's health system scales up universal immunisation, keeping public and political attention on that baseline is the quiet, unglamorous work that keeps 'polio-free' permanent rather than provisional.