The National Rural Health Mission, launched in 2005, is the largest primary healthcare programme run in the world and reflects the Government of India’s commitment to increase public spending on health to 2-3 percent of GDP. It aims provide effective healthcare in rural areas, especially to poor and disadvantaged sections of the population, by improving access, enabling community ownership and demand for services, strengthening public health systems for efficient service delivery, enhancing equity and accountability and promoting decentralisation. It will do so through an architectural correction in the existing delivery mechanism and use of traditional Indian medicine systems. This brief examines the Mission’s salient features and summarises progress to date.