Mission Indradhanush — Catch-Up Immunisation Campaign
Mission Indradhanush was launched on 25 December 2014 as a catch-up immunisation campaign to cover all left-out and drop-out children under the Universal Immunization Programme. The name refers to the seven vaccines (the 'seven colours of the rainbow') covered at launch: BCG, OPV, DPT, TT, Hepatitis B, Pentavalent, and measles — later expanded to include all UIP vaccines as well as JE, PCV and RVV.
Mission Indradhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 25 December 2014 to rapidly increase full immunisation coverage among children in India. At launch, only 65% of Indian children were fully immunised, leaving approximately 90 lakh children either partially or completely unimmunised — a population vulnerable to vaccine-preventable deaths from measles, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B and tuberculosis.
The original Mission targeted seven vaccines — symbolising the seven colours of the rainbow (Indradhanush). It has since been expanded to cover all vaccines under the Universal Immunization Programme, including the newer additions of Rotavirus, Pneumococcal Conjugate, Measles-Rubella, and Japanese Encephalitis vaccines. The Mission is implemented through special drive sessions in addition to routine immunisation sessions, conducted over 7 working days starting from the 7th of every month for four consecutive months in identified districts.
The objective is to increase full immunisation coverage to at least 90% of children, with focused attention on districts with low coverage and high drop-out rates. The strategy involves:
- Headlamp risk mapping: Districts identified on the basis of baseline coverage surveys, drop-out rates between doses, and presence of underserved populations.
- Catch-up dosing: Children who missed earlier doses are given catch-up doses following the national catch-up schedule, not the primary schedule.
- Session site micro-planning: Identifying underserved areas — urban slums, brick kilns, construction sites, nomadic settlements, hard-to-reach villages — and conducting extra sessions there.
- Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS): Used to identify and follow up drop-out children by name.
- Inter-sectoral convergence: ASHAs, Anganwadi workers, ANMs, panchayat members and self-help groups jointly mobilise beneficiaries.
Mission Indradhanush has been implemented in successive phases since 2015:
- Phase 1 (April-June 2015): 201 high-focus districts across 28 states. 9.4 lakh children fully immunised.
- Phase 2 (October-December 2015): 352 districts. 11.6 lakh sessions held.
- Phase 3 (April-July 2016): 216 districts.
- Phase 4 (February-May 2017): 241 districts, focused on the remaining high-burden districts.
- Gram Swaraj Abhiyan / Extended MI: Special drives in 16,500 villages with very low coverage in 117 aspirational districts.
Across all phases, the Mission has reached more than 3.5 crore children and 90 lakh pregnant women, administering millions of catch-up doses. Independent evaluations by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21) confirmed measurable coverage gains in Mission Indradhanush districts compared to non-MI districts.
Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) was launched on 8 October 2017 by the Prime Minister, with a sharper target of reaching 90% full immunisation coverage by December 2018. IMI introduced several enhancements over the original Mission:
- Convergence with other ministries — Ministries of Women and Child Development, Panchayati Raj, Urban Development, Information and Broadcasting, and the ASHA workforce under NHM
- Use of Prime Minister's Direct Benefit Transfer (PM-DBT) platform for real-time monitoring
- Cabinet Secretary-led review at the central level, with state Chief Secretaries accountable for monthly progress
- Focus on urban slums and migrant populations — previously neglected in routine immunisation
IMI 2.0 ran from December 2019, IMI 3.0 from February 2021 (against the backdrop of COVID-19 vaccine catch-up), and IMI 4.0 from February 2022 onwards. Each IMI drive typically runs for 7 working days per round across 4 rounds spread over 2 months. The most recent iteration, IMI 5.0, was launched in 2023 with a special focus on measles-rubella catch-up after pandemic-related disruptions.
NFHS-5 (2019-21) showed that full immunisation coverage of children aged 12-23 months rose to 76.4% nationally, up from 62% in NFHS-4 (2015-16). While this gain cannot be attributed solely to Mission Indradhanush, MI/IMI districts showed consistently higher gains than non-MI districts in independent evaluations.
Key lessons learned: (1) catch-up campaigns work but require sustained micro-planning investment; (2) urban areas need different strategies from rural areas — mobile sessions for construction workers and migrants, evening sessions for working parents; (3) vaccine hesitancy in some Muslim communities around OPV persists and requires trusted-community-leader engagement; (4) MCTS/RCM (Reproductive Child Health portal) data quality is critical but inconsistent across states. Reference: NHM Mission Indradhanush page.
Mission Indradhanush and its intensified version have been among India's most successful public health campaigns of the last decade. For UPSC CMS aspirants, they are evergreen current-affairs topics that combine elements of immunisation, programme management, and inter-sectoral convergence — three recurring themes in PSM interview questions.