Communally sensitive Kandhamal district of Orissa is all set to carry another vague record. The district, dominated by the tribals has registered country’s highest infant mortality rate (IMR).   

In its latest publication of “Infant and Child Mortality in India : District Level Estimates'', a New Delhi-based Population Foundation of India (PFI) estimates that IMR in Kandhamal was 121 per 1000 live births, while the national infant mortality rate per 1000 live births stands at 54.

It may be here recalled that over 50 per cent of Kandhamal's population comprises scheduled tribes, and nearly two-third of its people live below the poverty line (BPL). The main occupation of the people in Kandhmal is agriculture. However, 70 per cent of its land is unproductive, maintains the official data.

Though the district boasts for having more than 50 government-run hospitals and health care centres, still the health services mostly remain out of bounds for poor tribal in remote hilly tracts as doctors skip official duty assigned to them.

As per the report, “Among the 593 districts, Kandhamal district is having the highest (121) IMR, whereas Kottayam district in Kerala is having the lowest (13) IMR.”

The report maintains that Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR (94) followed by Odisha (90), while Kerala has the lowest IMR (18).

The same hold true for the child mortality rate also. Madhya Pradesh has the highest CMR (102) followed by Uttar Pradesh (94) and Odisha (90). Kerala again has the lowest CMR of 20.

According to the PFI publication, female IMR is pronounced than male IMR in states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.