India's infant mortality rate drops: Health Ministry

New Delhi: India's infant mortality rate (IMR) has come down by three points from 47 to 44 deaths per 1,000 live births during 2011, the Health Ministry said Friday.

According to the Ministry, the latest bulletin of the Sample Registration System (SRS) released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) shows that the IMR for rural areas has dropped by three points from 51 to 48 deaths per 1,000 live births while the urban rate now stands at 29 from the previous 31.

Among the states, Goa and Manipur have the lowest IMR of 11, followed by Kerala with 12 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR of 59 per 1,000 live births followed by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha with 57 each.

Assam, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Meghalaya have IMRs higher than the national average of 44.

The SRS is a large-scale demographic survey for providing reliable annual estimates of birth rate, death rate and other fertility and mortality indicators at the national and sub-national levels.

The field investigation consists of continuous enumeration of births and deaths in selected sample units by anganwadi workers and teachers.

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