New Delhi (PTI): Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said his government has taken several initiatives to reduce the maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) in the state.

Hooda was speaking at the South Asian Parliamentarians conference at Surajkund on achievements of Millennium Development Goals with a special focus on MMR.

The two-day conference, organised by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, is being attended by Parliamentarians from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh and officials from United Nations Population Fund.

In Haryana, currently the MMR is 162 per lakh live births.

Hooda said the government has decided to raise cash incentive to mothers belonging to Scheduled Castes to Rs 1500 per delivery in the next financial year.

He maintained several schemes are being implemented to motivate women to opt for institutional deliveries.

Appreciating Haryana for its low MMR, Chairperson of National Commission for Women, Girija Vyas, regretted that states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan have poor record in MMR because they do not know ways to save dying mothers.

She said budgetary support for gender issues given by the Centre is not being fully utilised by many state governments.