New Delhi, Jan 12 (IANS) As India completes a year without registering any polio cases, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Thursday said the country was “excited” and at the same time “vigilant” against the virus.

“We are excited and hopeful, at the same time vigilant and alert,” Azad said in a statement Thursday.

Cautioning that there was still no room for complacency, the health minister said India needed to ensure no case of polio infection was registered in the next three years for India to celebrate eradication of polio.

“The progress is indeed remarkable, considering that in 2009, India with 741 cases accounted for nearly half the global cases. This giant leap towards polio containment in a short span of two years is an endorsement of India’s tireless and persistent efforts,” he said.

India has spent more than Rs.12,000 crore on the Pulse Polio Programme. The country took a lead in introducing bivalent polio vaccine (bOPV) in January 2010.

Jan 13 marks one year of no polio cases being reported in the country.

The last new polio case in India was reported Jan 13, 2011, involving a two-year-old girl in West Bengal. In 2010, there were 42 cases as compared to 741 in 2009. In 1991, there were 6,028 cases and in 1985 there were 150,000.