Infant mortality rate comes down by 3 points

New Delhi, October 27: The infant mortality rate in India has come down to 44 from 47 deaths per 1,000 live births over the last one year, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

"Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has dropped by three points from 47 to 44 infant deaths per 1000 live births during 2011," the Ministry said in a release.

According to the October bulletin of the Sample Registration System (SRS) released by the Registrar General of India, the IMR for rural areas has dropped by three points from 51 to 48 infant deaths per 1000 live births while the urban rate now stands at 29 from the previous 31/1000, it said.

Among the states, Goa and Manipur have the lowest IMR of 11 infant deaths followed by Kerala with 12 infant deaths per 1000 live births.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR of 59/1000 followed by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha with 57/1000. Assam, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Meghalaya have IMRs more than the national average of 44, it said.

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.