Parliament Question: Status of Maternal/Infant Mortality in Rajasthan

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3404 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8THAUGUST, 2025 STATUS OFMATERNAL/INFANTMORTALITYIN RAJASTHAN †3404SHRIHARISH CHANDRAMEENA: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) the current status of maternal mortality, infant mortality and vaccination in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur of Rajasthan till June, 2025; (b) the detailsof the schemes implementedinthisregardandthe outcome thereof; (c) whether any pilot scheme like Sickle Cell Mission has been implemented and if so, the detailsthereof; (d) the steps takenby the Government toimprove institutional deliveryandnutrition; and (e) whether any partnership has been entered into with local NGO/community worker and if so, the detailsthereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL) (a): The Sample Registration System (SRS) released by the Registrar General of India (RGI) provides Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) at the National and Statelevel. As per the SRS SpecialBulletin onMaternal Mortality 2020-22, the MMR of Rajasthan is 87 per lakh live births. As per SRS 2022, IMR of Rajasthan is 30 per 1000 live births.The current status of vaccinationinTonk andSawaiMadhopur districts of Rajasthan is placedat Annexure. (b): The Government of India has undertaken various initiatives under National Health Mission (NHM) to reduce the maternal and infant mortality and to improve the vaccination status of childrenacross the country, keyamongst which are asfollows:  Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) isa demand promotion andconditional cash transfer scheme for promotinginstitutional delivery. JananiShishuSuraksha Karyakram(JSSK)entitlesallpregnantwomen delivering in public health institutions to have free and no-expense delivery, including caesarean section. Theentitlementsincludefree drugsandconsumables,free dietduring thestay, free diagnostics, free transportation and free blood transfusion, if required. Similar entitlementsare also inplace for sick infants.  Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost, assured and quality antenatal checkup by a Specialist/Medical Officeronthe 9thdayof everymonth. ExtendedPMSMAstrategy focuses on quality antenatal care (ANC) for pregnant women, especially high-risk pregnant (HRP) women and individual HRP tracking with financial incentivization for the identified high-risk pregnant women and accompanying AccreditedSocial Health Activists (ASHAs) for extra 3visits overand above the PMSMAvisit.  Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) aims to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting a public health facility, to end all preventable maternalandnewborn deaths.  Optimizing Postnatal Care aims to strengthen the quality of post-natal care by laying emphasis on detection of danger signs in mothers and incentivization of ASHAs for prompt detection, referral & treatment of such high-risk postpartum mothers.  The establishment of Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs) and Newborn Stabilization Units (NBSUs) under Facility Based Newborn Care (FBNC) program to provide specialized care to sick and small newborns at district and sub-district levels, addressing neonatalhealth complications.  ASHAs conduct scheduled home visits under Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care of Young Children (HBYC), improving child-rearing practices and identifying sick newborns and young children for timely referral and care.  The SocialAwarenessandActionstoNeutralizePneumoniaSuccessfully(SAANS) initiative targets pneumonia-related childhood morbidity and mortality through enhancedawareness andearlyintervention.  STOP Diarrhoea campaign is implemented for promoting use of ORS and Zinc and for reducingmorbidityandmortality due tochildhooddiarrhoea.  Childrenfrom 0to18yearsof age are screenedfor 32healthconditions(i.e.Diseases, Deficiencies, Defects and Developmental delay) under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram(RBSK) toimprove childsurvival. District EarlyIntervention Centres (DEICs) at district health facility level are established for confirmation and managementof children screenedunderRBSK.  UWIN the digital platform for name-based digital recording, tracking and monitoring of all the eligible beneficiaries across the country, has been rolled out across the countrytoimprove immunization coverage.  Mission Indradhanush isspecial catch-up vaccination campaignunderthe Universal Immunization Programme conducted in areas of low immunization coverage tovaccinate left out anddroppedout childrenandpregnantwomen including remote and underserved areas.  Special vaccination campaigns such as National Immunization Days (NIDs), as part of the Pulse Polioprogramme are carriedout everyyear.  Strategic interventions like advocacy, social mobilization, community engagement, interpersonal communication at familylevel and media engagement are undertaken to improve immunization coverage.  The State Task Force on Immunization (STFI) and the District Task Force on Immunization(DTFI)enable effectiveimplementation of the program. (c): Under National Health Mission (NHM), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is implementing NationalSickle Cell Anaemia EliminationMission (NSCAEM) toprovide affordable, accessible and quality care to all patients of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). The objective of the mission is to reduce the prevalence of SCD through awareness creation, targeted screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years till 2025-26 in affected districts of tribal areas and counselling through collaborative efforts. As on 28th July 2025, a total of 6,04,50,683 population in the 17 identified tribal dominated states including Rajasthan, have been screened and 2,62,67,997 genetic counselling ID cards have been distributed including16,97,638cardsinRajasthan. The patients living with SCD are provided with services to improve the quality of life including frequent follow-ups, counselling on lifestyle management, pre-marriage and pre- natal decisions, nutrition support through folic acid distribution, conducting yoga and wellness sessions and management of crisis symptoms and referrals to higher-level facilitiesthrough Ayushman Arogya Mandir (AAM). (d): The Government of India hastakenvarioussteps underNHM toimprove the institutional deliveryandnutritionalstatusof womenandchildren,keyamongstwhich areasfollows:  Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) isa demand promotion andconditional cash transfer scheme for promotinginstitutional delivery.  JananiShishuSuraksha Karyakram(JSSK)entitlesallpregnantwomen delivering in public health institutions to have free and no-expense delivery, including caesarean section. Theentitlementsincludefree drugsandconsumables,free dietduring thestay, free diagnostics, free transportation and free blood transfusion, if required. Similar entitlementsare also inplace for sick infants.  Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost, assured and quality antenatal checkup by a Specialist/Medical Officeronthe 9thdayof everymonth. ExtendedPMSMAstrategy focuses on quality antenatal care (ANC) for pregnant women, especially high-risk pregnant (HRP) women and individual HRP tracking with financial incentivization for the identified high-risk pregnant women and accompanying AccreditedSocial Health Activists (ASHAs) for extra 3visits overand above the PMSMAvisit. LaQshya – Quality Improvement Initiative improves the quality of care in labour room and maternity operation theatres to ensure that pregnant women receive respectful andqualitycare during deliveryandimmediatepost-partum.  Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) aims to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting a public health facility, to end all preventable maternalandnewborn deaths.  Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Programme is implemented to reduce anemia among six beneficiaries age group - children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnantand lactatingwomen andinwomen of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism.  Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) are set up at public health facilities to provide in-patient medical and nutritional care to children under 5 years suffering from SevereAcute Malnourishment (SAM) with medicalcomplications.  Mothers’ Absolute Affection (MAA) Programme is implemented to improve breastfeedingcoverage inchildrenwhich includesearlyinitiationof breastfeedingand exclusive breastfeeding for first six months followed by counselling on age- appropriate complementary feedingpractices.  Comprehensive Lactation Management Centres (CLMC) are established to ensure availability of safe, pasteurized Donor Human Milk for feeding of sick, preterm and low birth weight babies admitted in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special Newborn Care Units.  Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) are observed for provision of maternal and child health services and creating awareness on maternal and child care including nutrition in convergence with Ministry of Women and Child Development. (e):AspertheinformationreceivedfromtheStateofRajasthan,thereisnopartnershipwiththe localNGO/communityworker. *****Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No 3404 to beanswered on08.08.2025 Annexure Current statusof vaccinationin Tonkand SawaiMadhopurdistrictsof Rajasthan Total no.of children Achievement District vaccinated (%) Tonk 6811 94.2 SawaiMadhopur 7262 86.1 Source: HMIS (April 2025toJune 2025)