Lok Sabha Question No. 3474 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-13
Subject: Maternal Mortality Rate
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Satish Kumar Gautam, Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi, Smt. Mahima Kumari Mewar, Shri Jagdambika Pal, Dr. D. Purandeswari, Shri Chintamani Maharaj, Dr. Rajesh Mishra, Shri Alok Sharma, Shri Nalin Soren, Shri Janardan Mishra, Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan, Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Shri Naba Charan Majhi, Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3474 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 th MARCH, 2026

## MATERNALMORTALITYRATE

## † 3474. SHRI SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM:

SHRI CHAVDAVINOD LAKHAMSHI:

SMT. MAHIMA KUMARI MEWAR:

SHRI JAGDAMBIKAPAL:

DR. D. PURANDESWARI:

SHRI CHINTAMANI MAHARAJ:

DR. RAJESH MISHRA:

SHRI ALOK SHARMA:

SHRI NALIN SOREN:

SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA:

SHRI RAVINDRASHUKLA ALIAS RAVI KISHAN:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI NABACHARAN MAJHI:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

Will the MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the current Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and the decline recorded over the last five years in the country, State/UT-wise including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, especially in Surguja district and Dumka Parliamentary constituency of Jharkhand;
- (b) the major initiatives undertaken by the Government to reduce maternal mortality, particularly in rural and underserved areas of the country;
- (c) whether the Government has identified key challenges in addressing maternal mortality and, if so, the details thereof along with the measures taken by the Government to overcome them;
- (d) the role of institutional deliveries and antenatal care in reducing maternal deaths along with the number of institutional deliveries recorded during the last three years; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to achieve the global maternal health targets and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL)

- (a) As per the latest bulletin on Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) 2021-23, released by the

Registrar General of India, the MMR of the country is 88 per lakh live births. The State/UT -wise details of MMR including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand is placed at Annexure I.

- (b) , (c) and (e) Under the National Health Mission (NHM), the Government of India has undertaken various initiatives to reduce maternal mortality across all States and Union Territories, including rural and underserved areas of the country, to achieve the maternal health targets along with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are provided below:
-  Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a demand promotion and conditional cash transfer scheme for promoting institutional delivery.
-  Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) entitles all pregnant woman delivering in public health institutions to have absolutely free and no expense delivery, including caesarean section. The entitlements include free drugs, consumables, free diet during stay, free diagnostics, free transportation and free blood transfusion, if required. Similar entitlements are also in place for sick infants up to one year of age.
-  Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost, assured and quality antenatal check up by a Specialist/Medical Officer on the 9th day of every month.

Extended PMSMA strategy ensures quality antenatal care (ANC) to pregnant women, especially to high-risk pregnant (HRP) women and individual HRP tracking until a safe delivery is achieved by means of financial incentivization for the identified high-risk pregnant women and accompanying ASHA for extra 3 visits over and above the PMSMA visit.

-  LaQshya improves the quality of care in labour room and maternity operation theatres to ensure that pregnant women receive respectful and quality care during delivery and immediate post-partum.
-  Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) provides assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every pregnant woman and new-born visiting public health facilities to end all preventable maternal and newborn 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 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) for prompt detection, referral & treatment of such high-risk postpartum mothers.
-  Monthly Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) an outreach activity at Anganwadi centres ensures service provision of maternal and childcare in convergence with the ICDS.
-  Outreach camps are provisioned for improving the reach of health care services especially in tribal and hard to reach areas. This platform is used to increase awareness

for the Maternal & Child health services, community mobilization as well as to track high risk pregnancies.

-  Mother and Child Protection (MCP) Card and Safe Motherhood Booklet are distributed to the pregnant women for educating them on diet, rest, danger signs of pregnancy, benefit schemes and institutional deliveries.
-  Strengthening of infrastructure , including functionalization of First Referral Units (FRUs), setting up of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Wings, operationalization of Obstetric High Dependency Units & Intensive Care Units (Obst. HDU & ICU), establishment of Birth Waiting Homes (BWHs) in difficult terrain, remote and tribal areas for improved access to healthcare facilities and promoting institutional delivery.
- (d) Institutional deliveries and antenatal care play a crucial role in reducing maternal mortality in the country. Deliveries conducted in health institutions with the assistance of skilled birth attendants (SBA) help in managing complications that may arise at any time during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postnatal period.

Antenatal care ensures early registration of pregnancy, regular health check-ups, screening and identification of high-risk pregnancies, provision of essential supplements such as Iron & Folic Acid, Calcium & Vit. D3 and counselling on birth preparedness and complication readiness, enabling timely referral and management of complications. The number of institutional deliveries conducted in last three years is placed at Annexure II.

*******

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q. No. 3474 to be answered on 13.03.2026

Annexure-l

| State/ UT-wise Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) over the last five years as per Sample Registration Survey (SRS)   | State/ UT-wise Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) over the last five years as per Sample Registration Survey (SRS)   | State/ UT-wise Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) over the last five years as per Sample Registration Survey (SRS)   | State/ UT-wise Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) over the last five years as per Sample Registration Survey (SRS)   | State/ UT-wise Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) over the last five years as per Sample Registration Survey (SRS)   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                                                           | India/States                                                                                                     | SRS 2019-21                                                                                                      | SRS 2020-22                                                                                                      | SRS 2021-23                                                                                                      |
|                                                                                                                  | India                                                                                                            | 93                                                                                                               | 88                                                                                                               | 88                                                                                                               |
| 1                                                                                                                | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                   | 46                                                                                                               | 47                                                                                                               | 30                                                                                                               |
| 2                                                                                                                | Assam                                                                                                            | 167                                                                                                              | 125                                                                                                              | 110                                                                                                              |
| 3                                                                                                                | Bihar                                                                                                            | 100                                                                                                              | 91                                                                                                               | 104                                                                                                              |
| 4                                                                                                                | Jharkhand                                                                                                        | 51                                                                                                               | 50                                                                                                               | 54                                                                                                               |
| 5                                                                                                                | Gujarat                                                                                                          | 53                                                                                                               | 55                                                                                                               | 51                                                                                                               |
| 6                                                                                                                | Haryana                                                                                                          | 106                                                                                                              | 89                                                                                                               | 89                                                                                                               |
| 7                                                                                                                | Karnataka                                                                                                        | 63                                                                                                               | 58                                                                                                               | 68                                                                                                               |
| 8                                                                                                                | Kerala                                                                                                           | 20                                                                                                               | 18                                                                                                               | 30                                                                                                               |
| 9                                                                                                                | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                   | 175                                                                                                              | 159                                                                                                              | 142                                                                                                              |
| 10                                                                                                               | Chhattisgarh                                                                                                     | 132                                                                                                              | 141                                                                                                              | 146                                                                                                              |
| 11                                                                                                               | Maharashtra                                                                                                      | 38                                                                                                               | 36                                                                                                               | 36                                                                                                               |
| 12                                                                                                               | Odisha                                                                                                           | 135                                                                                                              | 136                                                                                                              | 153                                                                                                              |
| 13                                                                                                               | Punjab                                                                                                           | 98                                                                                                               | 92                                                                                                               | 90                                                                                                               |
| 14                                                                                                               | Rajasthan                                                                                                        | 102                                                                                                              | 87                                                                                                               | 86                                                                                                               |
| 15                                                                                                               | Tamil Nadu                                                                                                       | 49                                                                                                               | 38                                                                                                               | 35                                                                                                               |
| 16                                                                                                               | Telangana                                                                                                        | 45                                                                                                               | 50                                                                                                               | 59                                                                                                               |
| 17                                                                                                               | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                                    | 151                                                                                                              | 141                                                                                                              | 141                                                                                                              |
| 18                                                                                                               | Uttarakhand                                                                                                      | 100                                                                                                              | 104                                                                                                              | 91                                                                                                               |
| 19                                                                                                               | West Bengal                                                                                                      | 109                                                                                                              | 105                                                                                                              | 104                                                                                                              |
| 20                                                                                                               | Other States                                                                                                     | 71                                                                                                               | 81                                                                                                               | 86                                                                                                               |

Source - Sample Registration System (SRS), RGI Report

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q. No. 3474 to be answered on 13.03.2026

## Annexure-II

| The number of Institutional deliveries conducted in the country in last three years i.e FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25   | The number of Institutional deliveries conducted in the country in last three years i.e FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25   | The number of Institutional deliveries conducted in the country in last three years i.e FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25   | The number of Institutional deliveries conducted in the country in last three years i.e FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25   | The number of Institutional deliveries conducted in the country in last three years i.e FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S no                                                                                                                            | Institutional deliveries                                                                                                        | FY 2022-23                                                                                                                      | FY 2023-24                                                                                                                      | FY 2024-25                                                                                                                      |
| 1.                                                                                                                              | India                                                                                                                           | 20165533                                                                                                                        | 19799153                                                                                                                        | 19355420                                                                                                                        |

Source: HMIS