📰 🚨 Big Push for Tribal Health: ₹10 Crore Prize for Sickle Cell Drug – All You Need to Know! 🧬✨
🧠 Want to Stay Ahead in Exams? Here’s the Latest Hot Topic!
If you’re preparing for SSC, UPSC, or State PCS exams, here’s a must-know current affairs update for 2025! On World Sickle Cell Day (19 June 2025), the Indian government made a historic announcement that directly affects tribal welfare, public health, and innovation.
To boost innovation in tribal healthcare, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in partnership with AIIMS Delhi, has introduced the prestigious Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize. The goal? To develop a new, effective drug for Sickle Cell Disease — a disorder that severely affects India’s tribal communities.
Let’s break it down in an easy, exam-ready format! 👇
✅ Event Summary
🗓️ Date: 19 June 2025
📍 Location: AIIMS, New Delhi
📢 The announcement was made by Durgadas Uikey, who currently serves as the Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs.
🎯 What’s New:
- Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize for drug innovation.
- ₹10 crore reward for the best proposal.
- National Tribal Health and Research Institute to be set up in AIIMS Delhi.
🩺 Why It Matters
- Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder mainly found in India’s tribal areas.
- India has set an ambitious goal to completely eliminate sickle cell anaemia from the country by the year 2047.
- The only existing drug has limitations, especially for pregnant women or people with other illnesses.
- This prize is a giant leap in healthcare innovation, tribal welfare, and medical research.
📚 Background & Context
🧬 What is Sickle Cell Disease?
SCD is a hereditary disorder affecting haemoglobin — the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells.
🩸 In individuals with the condition, red blood cells take on a crescent or sickle-like shape, which can obstruct blood flow in the vessels..
😔 This leads to pain, fatigue, infections, organ damage, and even early death.
👣 Who Was Bhagwan Birsa Munda?
- A tribal freedom fighter from Chota Nagpur (Jharkhand & West Bengal).
- Led tribal revolts against British rule.
- Revered as Bhagwan (God) among tribal communities.
- The award in his name honours both his legacy and tribal contributions.
🔍 Key Takeaways for Exams
| 📝 Topic | 📌 Fact |
| Day Observed | World Sickle Cell Day – 19 June |
| Prize Name | Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize |
| Amount | Up to ₹10 crore |
| Disease Focus | Sickle Cell Anaemia |
| Ministry | Ministry of Tribal Affairs (with AIIMS Delhi) |
| Mission Target | Eliminate sickle cell by 2047 |
| Initiated By | PM Modi (1 July 2023 – Shahdol, MP) |
| Target Population | Tribals, youth under 40 years |
| Screening Goal | 7 crore people |
| States Involved | 17 states including Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, etc. |
🏥 What You Should Know About the New Tribal Health & Research Powerhouse at AIIMS
📍 Location: AIIMS Delhi
📌 Purpose:
- Research centre for tribal diseases.
- Provide inpatient & outpatient care to tribals.
- Act as referral hub for tribal region hospitals.
- Guide government health policy for tribal populations.
- Launch postgraduate course in tribal medicine.
📖 Impact on Aspirants
🎯 This topic is super relevant for:
- GS Paper 2 (Health, Governance, Policy)
- Essay Topics (Tribal Welfare, Public Health Innovation)
- PI Questions in interviews like UPSC, PSCs
- Multiple-choice questions related to this topic can appear in sections like Current Affairs, General Science, or Indian Polity.
🧠 How to Remember:
- Link it to 2025’s World Sickle Cell Day + Birsa Munda’s legacy + ₹10 crore innovation drive.
🤔 Did You Know?
- Sickle Cell is more common in tribal belts of India – up to 18% prevalence in some regions!
- Birsa Munda, who passed away at just 25, continues to stand as a powerful emblem of tribal pride and resistance.
- India is the second-highest contributor to global SCD cases after Africa.
💡 Pro Tip for Aspirants
🖊️ While revising science or health topics, make a side note:
” In 2025, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in collaboration with AIIMS Delhi, unveiled the ₹10 crore Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize to encourage innovative research aimed at developing a new drug.”
This will help you quickly recall facts in both objective and descriptive papers.
❓True or False Quiz – Test Yourself!
- ✅ Researchers stand a chance to win up to ₹10 crore under the newly launched Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize for developing a sickle cell treatment.
- ✅ Sickle Cell Disease is a genetic condition that changes the shape and function of haemoglobin in red blood cells.
- ✅ The Tribal Health Institute will be set up in Kolkata.
- ✅ Under its national mission, India has set a bold target to fully eradicate sickle cell anaemia by the year 2047.
- ✅ Every year on June 19, World Sickle Cell Day is observed to raise global awareness about this inherited blood disorder.
Answers:
- ❌ (It’s ₹10 crore)
- ✅
- ❌ (It’s in AIIMS Delhi)
- ✅
- ❌ (It’s June 19)
📢 Final Note for Readers
If you’re serious about government job preparation, remember: topics like these don’t just test your memory—they test your understanding of India’s governance, science, and society.
💬 Stay updated with TezKhabrein.com for daily news that matters for your exams!
📌 Bookmark this article, and revise it before your next test!
Stay curious. Stay ahead. ✅
To read more about how India’s space research is advancing, check out this detailed article on ISRO’s new space science laboratory NAVYA and its impact on student innovation and future missions.