April 11, 2002
'5'PROPER PLANNING BACKED BY CORRECT STATISTICS AND SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY IN IMPLEMENTING AND MONITORING WILL HELP ACHIEVE TARGETS, SAYS ADVANI
The Union Home Minister, Shri L.K. Advani has said that proper planning and intensive monitoring is the key to ensure the desired targets in any particular area. This should be backed by correct statistics so that the very planning is not on wrong footing. Addressing a national workshop on "Infant Mortality : Levels, Trends and Interventions", here today. Shri Advani said India since independence has made important advances in improving the health care resulting in significant reduction in overall mortality. The decline in death rates immediately after independence contributed to the overall growth of population in the fifties and sixties. The infant mortality in the country is still high and there are variations in its levels across the country. While Kerala has achieved a very low level of IMR which can be compared with advanced countries, other states are lagging behind. This will have to be looked into. He also stressed for micro-level data on births, deaths, infant deaths and the causes.
The Home Minister said we introduced a law, the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1969, which makes it compulsory that all births and deaths are registered. But even after 30 years of enactment of this law only a few states have achieved significantly satisfactory levels of registration. Though there are various reasons for this, the prime responsibility lies with the State governments for implementing this law. This will help us to have correct micro-level data. He expressed happiness that the infant mortality rate has drastically come down since independence but said our planning should be devised to decrease it further. The present IMR of 68 infant deaths per 1000 births is still high. Currently the Government is implementing several programmes and also with the active participation of NGOs which have direct impact on reducing the infant mortality. What is needed is greater commitment and sincerity to make these programmes successful.
On the Government side, Shri Advani said, it attaches greater importance to issues relating to raising the living standards of the population. The fact that the National Commission on Population is chaired by the Prime Minister indicates this. He desired that the State Governments give more and more emphasis to achieve the targets set by them.
Shri Advani also expressed satisfaction that the Registrar General has arranged such a workshop, first of its kind, to bring so many demographers, medical professionals, public health planners and administrators on a common platform to deliberate on the vital issue of infant mortality. Shri Advani hoped that the deliberations will help in future planning strategies to further decrease the infant mortality rate.
In his opening remarks, the Registrar General, Shri J.K. Banthia made a visual presentation on the infant mortality rate prevailing in all the States and Union Territories of the country and how co-ordinated efforts are on to improve this status.