Leprosy new case detection figures: Is there a missing link somewhere?

National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) of the Central Leprosy Division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India, in its annual report (published quite recently) says 126,164 new leprosy cases were detected in India during the period 2017-18

However, its annual report for 2016-17 (http://bit.ly/2HC40F2) says a total of 135,485 new leprosy cases were detected (in 2016-17). This means there is a decrease of 6.88% cases in 2017-18 as compared to 2016-17. Even this reported marginal decrease is good news for a country where every four minutes someone is diagnosed with leprosy and which accounts for 60% of the global leprosy caseload.

But, isn’t something amiss in the new cases reported during 2017-18?

In an IndiaSpend article published as recently as on January 4, 2019 (http://bit.ly/2TtXItk) , the govt had claimed that “the numbers [new leprosy cases] are rising because we are detecting more cases [through the Leprosy Case Detection Campaign].” Against this backdrop, logically, the number of new cases detected during 2017-18 should have been more than the cases detected in 2016-17. How then there is a decrease of 6.88% during 2017-18?

How can this contradiction in numbers be explained? Is there a missing link somewhere?