Overview
- Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav, in a written reply on December 9, said India lacks conclusive national or State/UT‑wise data to attribute deaths or diseases exclusively to air pollution.
- He stated that air pollution contributes to respiratory and related illnesses, describing health impacts as a synergistic outcome of personal and social factors such as occupation, diet, medical history and heredity.
- The government said it does not maintain official State/UT estimates of deaths caused exclusively by air pollution or definite figures on economic losses attributed directly to it.
- Programmes cited include NPCCHH since 2019, a Health Adaptation Plan, State Action Plans for all 36 States and UTs, IMD air‑quality forecasts, public advisories and awareness drives, along with PMUY, Swachh Bharat and the 2019 National Clean Air Programme.
- Medical voices including AIIMS pulmonology head Dr Anant Mohan and a collective of over 80 Padma awardee doctors warned of direct mortality effects and reduced life expectancy linked to pollution.