Madhya Pradesh has the highest infant mortality rate of 56 and the most literate state ranks lowest 10.According to recent data published by Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India on infant mortality, which account for 20% of total death in Madhya Pradesh. In contrast death in 0-4 Age Group in Kerala is just 2%.
States with poor development indices like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar have a high number of infant mortality rate. Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra ranks low in infant mortality rank.
Important Figures:
- Bihar has the highest birth rate at 26.2 .
- Chhattisgarh has the highest death rate at 8 and
- Delhi has a death rate of 3.3.
- Across India , infant mortality rate is higher in rural areas than urban areas, except in few states such as Uttarakhand and Punjab, where the proportion is higher in urban areas.
These data were released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner in its Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin based on information collected for 2018.
What is infant Mortality rate?
It is the probability of dying before 5 years of age for every 1000 newborns.
Madhya Pradesh faces serious issues in Child care too , reveals past survey:
1)State has a high stunting rate of 42 per cent, that is 3.3 million children under the age five are stunted and 2.7 million children under age five are wasted, As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4),
2) The State ranks third in India for crimes committed against children and gender-based violence is on the rise with the state recording the second highest number of rape cases committed against children during 2016 (National Crime Records Bureau, 201).
3) As per Census 2011 approximately 700,000 children aged 5-14 years are child workers in state.
Amid all State has launched various scheme for better child care:
In 2018, the State initiated the implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan – mission mode to address nutrition issues in sync with national mission addressing all forms of under-nutrition.
State women and child welfare department has also set target to improve sex ratio of the girl child to 950 for 2024. Presently in the state the sex ratio is 931 girls on 1000 boys, till the end of the current year 2020 it is targeted to improve it to 935 and till 2024, to 950.
To ensure good health and child care Madhya Pradesh government and UNICEF(Madhya Pradesh) is continuously working to eradicate these potholes in child development.
Apoorv Agrawal 
PNZ Staff