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A pat from Delhi for Rajasthan

Special Correspondent

A remarkable reduction in infant mortality rate

JAIPUR: The Planning Commission has praised the achievement of Rajasthan in reducing the infant mortality rate (IMR) by 8 per cent between 2003 and 2004, pushing up the desert State to the second rank, after Chhattisgarh, in this significant indicator of health and nutrition status.

The Systematic Registration Survey (SRS) bulletin brought out by the Centre noted in one of its recent issues that the IMR for Rajasthan, which was 75 in 2003, had come down to 67 in 2004. Chhattisgarh achieved a 10 per cent reduction in IMR in one year -- from 70 in 2003 to 60 in 2004 -- which was the highest in the country. The Planning Commission, at one of its review meetings in New Delhi recently, appreciated the success of the maternal and infant health care programme in Rajasthan. Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal achieved a 6 per cent reduction in IMR during the period.

The IMR in Maharashtra was 42 in 2003, which came down to 36 in 2004. In Orissa, the IMR came down from 83 to 77 and in West Bengal from 46 to 40 during the period. According to an official release issued here on Saturday, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, praising the achievement of Rajasthan asked the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to find out the strategy adopted in the State for recommending it to other States for replication. The release pointed out that the Planning Commission's Member, Syeda Hamid, during a meeting for recommendation of strategies for development during the 11th Plan in July this year, had also praised the efforts put in by Rajasthan for improving the health and nutrition status of women and children and building women's capacity for self-employment.

Ms. Hamid had asked the Principal Secretary for Women and Child Development, Alka Kala, to prepare a short note on the best practices adopted in Rajasthan for child development and women's empowerment.

A copy of the note has since been sent to the Planning Commission. The release said that besides the reduction in IMR, severe malnutrition had also come down by more than one per cent in Rajasthan. Complete immunisation and safe motherhood practices have also increased substantially in the desert State.

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