BANGALORE: In an attempt to bring down infant and maternal mortality rates in the State, the Government has come up with a novel idea of providing incentives to women who decide to go in for deliveries in government hospitals.

From April, it is giving Rs. 700 each to women from BPL (below poverty line) families who undergo regular check-up at government hospitals during pregnancy and those who opt for deliveries in these hospitals. Those who undergo caesarean section in government hospitals receive Rs. 1,500 each.

Earlier, the Department of Women and Child was giving women from BPL families who opted for deliveries at government hospitals Rs. 500 to help them tide over the first few days after childbirth. No specific budget had been allocated. The Department of Women and Child has no statistics on money spent. Since the Government feels it needs to give a greater incentive to increase the number of deliveries in government hospitals, it has earmarked Rs. 21 crores in its budget under the World Health Organisation-sponsored Reproductive and Child Health Project II. During the five-year project, the Government plans to percentage of institutional deliveries from 66 to 100. "The programmes aim at total health of mother and child. It is more a preventive rather than a curative measure," Health Director R. Prasad said.

Through the programme, the Government plans to bring down maternal morality rate (MMR, the number of deaths per one lakh live deliveries) to 00 from 195. It plans to reduce the infant mortality rate (IMR, the number of deaths per 1,000 live births) to 40 from 55.

Although infant and maternal mortality rates in Karnataka are below the national average, it is below those of other southern States such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The infant mortality rate is 42 in Tamil Nadu and 15 in Kerala. The maternal mortality rates for the two States are 110 and 100, respectively. "Within the next two years, we want IMR and MMR to be comparable with the figure in Tamil Nadu," Mr. Prasad said.

As part of its overall plan to bring down MMR and IMR, the Government has announced it will recruit two nurses each for public health centres to improve the quality of medical care. The proposal has to be cleared by the Finance Department.

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