Dr.Harsh Vardhan, was a doctor like any other, in Delhi, one of the first three states in India to start the Polio program, meaning it was not his initiative, instead it was his job to be part of it.
What really happened is explained carefully here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2696658/
Polio eradication in India was made possible by so many people one can't really thank them all by name. There are so many volunteers, who have worked on weekends going door to door to educate the parents and deliver the vaccination and they have done it over the years.
There are doctors, nurses, government workers, even Bollywood actors who've done ads for free to spread awareness.
So you can't really thank one person, one government or one organization. This was a national movement which succeeded.
the use of word "started" and the structure "the man" seems invisible to you?
This is a prime example of Pushy Politics, which has been not just used, but over abused by fanatics. Distorting History, and if so much as someone (like me here) points it out... "a man can't make a mistake?" attitude then, makes these people feel invincible.
Thus...I must quote Plato here:
You can forgive a child for staying in darkness, but the real tragedy of life is when men choose to stay away from light.
QUOTE
During his time in the State's Health Ministry, he launched Polio Eradication Plan in October 1994.[6] The programme was successful and was adopted throughout the whole nation by the Government of India.[7]
UNQUOTE
Please do your homework before calling others on the task. And look beyond your own version of reality, it is important. I wouldn't have even replied to you had it not been on HN.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harsh_Vardhan_(Delhi_politician...
You should have checked what your reference is. And now this is not a debate, what I said was not that he was not part of the movement. But Polio campaign was not started by him, is a fact.
Started, is someone who actually launched it on the national scale which would be the then prime minister, but should I also commit the same mistake of naming a politician and giving him all the credit? No I won't, I already said what is the known truth.
Also, if you read my reference (from US National Library Records) you would know, that the first project was launched in Tamil Nadu, then expanded to 3 states.
The reference for this is hidden behind a login screen, which is interesting.