India has high incidences and frequent outbreaks of diseases like tuberculosis, malaria,cholera, plague, encephalitis, typhoid, measles, hepatitis and dengue. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, has initiated the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, to strengthen the backbone of information network for effective public health delivery system in the country.  The project will cover the whole country with the objective of improving diagnostic facilities in public health laboratories.