India records sharp decline in infant and maternal mortality rates

New Delhi: India has achieved remarkable feat in arresting maternal and infant mortality rates and would surpass SDG goals of reducing maternal mortality to 70 per lakh live births by 2025 instead of the target of 2030, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said today.

The maternal mortality rate (MMR) per lakh live births has reduced to 130 in the country while there has been significant improvement in checking infant mortality rate (IMR) deaths, the minister said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

"I am happy to share with the House that our MMR, our IMR and under five mortality has declined faster than the world pace. If we talk about MDGs, according to the 2014-15 records, the decline has been 77 per cent as against global 43 per cent," Nadda said.

He asserted, "We have declined by 37 points that is per lakh live births. 167 was the mortality which is now 130. We have attained the position where we have gone far away than the MDG (millennium development goals). By 2025 we will be able to surpass the SDG (sustainable development goals) also."
He said states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have showed significance performance in this.

To a query whether 707 women at Dehradun received due amount under the Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY), the Minister said he was not aware of this.

JSY was launched with the objective of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery.

He said low performing states are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir.

"Cash assistance is also provided to BPL/SC/ST women of low and high performing states delivering in accredited private institutions," he said and added that BPL pregnant women, who prefer to deliver at home, are entitled to a cash assistance of Rs 500 per delivery.

In reply to another query, he said the Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission is to provide health assurance/insurance of Rs 5 lakh per family to 10.74 crore poor, deprived, rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers' families as per the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC).