Lucknow, Sep 25 (IANS): UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh has urged all UP ministers and legislators to adopt a TB patient each and help in achieving the target announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of a TB free India by 2025.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also adopt a TB patient.

UP Governor Anandiben Patel and other Raj Bhawan officials have already adopted a TB patient each earlier this month.

According to the Minister, the state has nearly 5.75 TB patients of which 14, 600 are in Lucknow alone.

The state government has decided to provide all hospitals with CB-NAAT test machines that provide the most definitive tests for tuberculosis.

Post adoption, each TB patient will be entitled to Rs 500 per month for a nutritious diet and the cash amount will be directly transferred to the patient's account. "I will soon adopt a patient from my constituency in Siddhartha Nagar district," the Minister said.

He said he would appreciate if the bureaucrats also join the initiative and offer to adopt a TB patient. In Varanasi's TB hospital, several doctors have already adopted patients.