
Assam's maternal mortality ratio improved significantly in last 20 years: Himanta
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday (June 19, 2025) said the State has recorded a decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 125 during 2020-22 from 490 in 2001-03.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sarma said the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) also has significantly improved in the state.
"With the whole-hearted efforts of the government of Assam in the last 20 years, our MMR has improved to 125 in 2020-22 from 490 in 2001-03," he said.
Over the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been undertaken, especially in the last 10 years, due to which significant improvement has been observed in the reduction of maternal mortality, he said.
"Assam is no longer the highest MMR state of the country. Assam's MMR is now better than Madhya Pradesh (159), Chhattisgarh (141), Uttar Pradesh (141) and Odisha (136) as per Sample Registration System (SRS) 2020-22," the CM said.
Talking about the IMR, Sarma said the benchmark indicator in 2005 in Assam was 68, way above the national figure of 58.
As per SRS data, "IMR of Assam improved to 36 (in 2020), 34 (in 2021) and 32 (in 2022)," he added.

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Time of India
15 hours ago
- Time of India
Assam free from high MMR burden, infant mortality rate also down: CM
1 2 Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state has come out from the historical backlog of high burden of maternal mortality ratio (MMR), which has been recorded by the sample registration survey (SRS) special bulletin for 2020-22, released recently. He added that the state's infant mortality rate (IMR) and under-5 mortality ratio (U5MR) have also improved significantly. "Assam is no longer the state with the highest MMR in the country. Assam's MMR is now better than Madhya Pradesh (159), Chhattisgarh (141), Uttar Pradesh (141) and Odisha (136) as per SRS 2020-22," Sarma said. As per SRS 2020-22, MMR of Assam has come down to 125. "This shows, 70 points (36%) drop in MMR in just two years. No other states in the country have shown such decline," Sarma added. He said from MMR of 490 in 2001-03, Assam improved to 125 by 2020-22, "almost reducing MMR to 1/4th. It is a great achievement for the state of Assam to bring such a great reduction of MMR even during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic." He attributed this high historical MMR to poor maternal health conditions and health infrastructure in the state. "Now, it is time to move forward and capitalise on all our effective strategies. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Scam Exposed: What They Won't Tell You about zero trust! Expertinspector Click Here Undo We must push Assam towards one of the five best states in the country in health sector," Sarma said, acknowledging that the state still has a great distance to go. "With renewed commitment and by adopting focused strategies for improvement of health sector with collective efforts of all members of health and family welfare department, medical education and research department, NHM and all other related departments we shall achieve our goals," he said. "In the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been undertaken, especially in the last 10 years, for which, significant improvement has been observed in reduction of maternal mortality," he said. He said it is not just MMR, but IMR also has improved tremendously. "Now, our performance (IMR) is at par with Odisha (32) and better than Uttar Pradesh (38), Chattisgarh (38) and Madhya Pradesh (40)," Sarma said. "Our Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) was as high as 88 per 1000 live births in 2008. This has also come down from 40 (SRS 2020) to 37 (SRS 2021) and further down to 35 (SRS 2022), almost reducing to 1/3rd. Similarly, our neonatal mortality rate also has improved from 33 per 1000 live births in 2005 to 22 in 2020-22," he added.


Time of India
21 hours ago
- Time of India
Assam makes strides in reducing Maternal Mortality, Infant Mortality and Under 5 Mortality ratios
Assam shows great improvement in reducing Maternal Mortality Ratio, Infant Mortality Rate and Under 5 Mortality Rate. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shares the state's progress since 2001. Assam's MMR is now better than several other states. The state government will provide jobs and is working to boost the animal husbandry sector. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Guwahati: Assam has made promising strides towards reducing the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and the Under 5 Mortality Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said this on Thursday while adding that while the recent reports of Sample Registration System (SRS) published by the Office of the Registrar General of India the MMR of Assam has come down to said that historically, Assam recorded the highest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country till the last SRS report of 2018-20. In 2001-03, the MMR in Assam was 490 per 1 lakh live births. At that time, the national MMR was 301.'The maternal health conditions were poor and the health infrastructure in the state was unable to provide necessary support to our mothers. In the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been undertaken, especially in the last 10 years, for which, significant improvement has been observed in reduction of maternal mortality,' the Chief Minister said adding that with the wholehearted efforts of Government of Assam in the last 20 years, the MMR has improved to 125 in 2020-22 from 490 in said that the Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2020-22 was released in the month of June 2025. 'As per SRS 2020-22, MMR of Assam has come down to 125 with a further 42 points (25.1%) drop in MMR compared to 2019-21. This shows 70 points (36%) drop in MMR in just 2 years. No other States in the Country have shown such decline,' he said, adding that Assam's MMR is now better than Madhya Pradesh (159), Chhattisgarh (141), Uttar Pradesh (141) and Odisha (136) as per SRS 2020-22.'It is a great achievement for the State of Assam to bring such a great reduction of MMR even during the period of COVID pandemic,' he Chief Minister further added that it is not just MMR, but Infant Mortality rate also has improved tremendously. 'The IMR in 2005 in Assam was 68, way above the national IMR of 58, being one of the last states in the country. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of Assam improved to 36 as per SRS (2020). It has come down to 34 as per SRS (2021) and further down to 32 as per SRS (2022),' he said adding that in terms of IMR, Assam's performance is at par with Orissa (32) and better than Uttar Pradesh (38), Chattisgarh (38) and Madhya Pradesh (40).'From 68 in 2005, we have improved to 32 by 2020-22, almost reducing IMR to 1/3rd,'he said, adding that the Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) was as high as 88 per 1000 live births in 2008. This has also come down from 40 (SRS 2020) to 37 (SRS 2021) and further down to 35 (SRS 2022), almost reducing to 1/3rd,' Sarma said.'Similarly, our neonatal mortality rate also has improved from 33 per 1000 live births in 2005 to 22 in 2020-22,' he said adding that improvement in health infrastructure, improvement in health Human Resources (HR), Motivated and incentivised ASHA(s) and grassroots workers, improved health service delivery and the social support programmes contributed towards this stated that nearly 40,000 youths would be provided government jobs in a single recruitment drive scheduled for 10 appointment letters were distributed to 443 Veterinary Field Assistants in the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department, 12 Tourism Development Officers in the Tourism Department, and 23 DIET Lecturers and 3 SCERT Assistant Directors in the rank of Assistant Professors under the Education Department. With the inclusion of these 481 appointments, the total number of government jobs secured under the present administration now stands at 1,20, expressed confidence that the State Government is well on course to reach a total of 1.60 lakh appointments by 10 October. He emphasised that the transparent nature of this recruitment process has not only upheld merit, but also played a vital role in fostering a more robust educational ecosystem across the his attention to the animal husbandry sector, the Chief Minister underscored its growing importance in the vision of a self-reliant Assam. He noted that, while this sector has increasingly become a pillar of the rural economy, Assam still lags behind other states in fully realising its potential. To address this, he stated that the government has partnered with the National Dairy Development Board to establish the North East Dairy and Foods Limited – an initiative aimed at producing, processing, and distributing 10 lakh litres of milk daily. He highlighted a series of infrastructural developments already underway to support this goal, including the setup of milk processing centres with one lakh litre capacities in Dhemaji, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Cachar, a 25,000 litre unit in Bajali, and a three lakh litre facility in Guwahati. He further mentioned that a new 1 lakh litre milk processing unit would also be established in Rani, near Guwahati by AMUL. These efforts, he affirmed, would serve as an incentive for farmers across Assam to expand stated that the state government would provide a subsidy of Rs. 5 per litre for milk brought in for processing. He added that the College of Veterinary Science, in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board, is working to develop a new breed by crossbreeding Assam's indigenous Lakhimi cows with Gujarat's high-yielding Gir breed. Additionally, he shared that efforts are also underway to improve yield through artificial insemination. With these measures, he affirmed, the government aims to scale Assam's daily milk production to 15 lakh litres by livestock development, the Chief Minister emphasised the state's renewed focus on poultry and duck farming, noting that 90% of Assam's daily egg demand is currently met through imports. He observed that if merely 1,000 entrepreneurs' step forward, the state could achieve a daily production of one crore eggs within three years. Despite the Northeast hosting the country's largest pork market, he lamented the region's insufficient local production and stressed the government's commitment to addressing this gap. He also highlighted a national campaign to promote biogas and bio-CNG production, adding that efforts are underway to enable dairy enterprises to generate these from cattle dung - an initiative poised to offer farmers a valuable supplementary income stream.


The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Assam's maternal mortality ratio improved significantly in last 20 years: Himanta
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday (June 19, 2025) said the State has recorded a decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 125 during 2020-22 from 490 in 2001-03. Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sarma said the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) also has significantly improved in the state. "With the whole-hearted efforts of the government of Assam in the last 20 years, our MMR has improved to 125 in 2020-22 from 490 in 2001-03," he said. Over the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been undertaken, especially in the last 10 years, due to which significant improvement has been observed in the reduction of maternal mortality, he said. "Assam is no longer the highest MMR state of the country. Assam's MMR is now better than Madhya Pradesh (159), Chhattisgarh (141), Uttar Pradesh (141) and Odisha (136) as per Sample Registration System (SRS) 2020-22," the CM said. Talking about the IMR, Sarma said the benchmark indicator in 2005 in Assam was 68, way above the national figure of 58. As per SRS data, "IMR of Assam improved to 36 (in 2020), 34 (in 2021) and 32 (in 2022)," he added.