India's current heat action plans are critically insufficient, failing to address dire biological impacts, deemed "theatre." Despite disaster funding recommendations, existing plans are uneven, offering only palliatives. The author advocates a transformative "national cooling doctrine," ensuring safe indoor temperatures as a public-health entitlement. This demands mandatory workplace cooling standards and scalable, efficient, tailored technologies. Solutions must fit India's unique wet, humid climate and economic realities, as imported Western approaches are unsuited and unaffordable. A comprehensive, ambitious strategy is urgently needed.