Chennai, Dec 27 : Union Minister of State for Health, Dr Bharati Pawar, on Tuesday said that the Centre was taking initiatives for eliminating Tuberculosis from the country by 2025. The minister was speaking after inaugurating the medical records room of the department of Clinical Research at the ICMR - National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) here. Dr Pawar said that NIRT was an old institute whose primary duties were to detect, treat and prevent TB. The Centre had initiated the 'Ni-kshay Mitra scheme' for Tuberculosis patients which would allow voluntary organisations and people to sponsor rations for them. As per the Ni-kshay Mitra scheme, volunteers can sponsor a basket worth Rs 700 for a Tuberculosis patient. The materials in the basket include cereals, 3 kg of millet, 1.5 kg of pulses, vegetable oils, groundnut, and milk among others. The minister also said that the NIRT was making people aware of the Tuberculosis notifications on the portal using the advancement in technologies. Dr Pawar also said that with the increasing number of Covid -19 cases in China, the Centre was conducting a mock drill on Tuesday to check the availability of Oxygen, medicines, PPE kits, and other materials necessary to counter the Covid -19 pandemic. /IANS