Rapped by the Comptroller and Auditor General of showing no improvement in infant and maternal mortality rate (IMR and MMR) despite huge funds, Punjab government has now recorded “highest reduction” in both indicators.
The state has succeeded in reducing the IMR and MMR by 34 per cent from 50 per 1000 live births in 2006-07 to 33 per 1000 live births during the year 2011-12.For the feat, Punjab has been chosen as one of the best state for improving healthcare service delivery in the state and awarded with ‘Dataquest-CMR e-Readiness-2013 Gold Award for e-Governance impact on improving healthcare service delivery.
“Special Secretary and Director Governance Reforms VN Zade received the award in a function organised at New Delhi recently. Former Union Secretary, Department of IT and Telecommunications and designated NASSCOM president R Chandrasekhar conferred the award,” said an official spokesman.
He said that the award has been given to Punjab state for registering remarkable performance in improvement of healthcare service delivery and its impact on reduction in female or infant mortality rate.
He added that National Planning Commission on IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) and MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate) has released the data for 29 states, comparing the figures for 2006-07 and 2011-12. “On the basis of this data, the states with the highest drop in IMR and MMR have won the award for ‘Best Healthcare Service Delivery’-female infant mortality,” he added.
“During the award ceremony, various e-governance initiatives of Governance Reforms Department including e-District, State Service Delivery gateway were also appreciated. Under the e-district project, the pilot project has been introduced in Kapurthala and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar besides improving the citizen service delivery of Health Department Services including birth or death registrations,” he added.
He said that Digitally Signed Birth or Death certificates were being provided to the citizens in Punjab and the applicants can get multiple copies of birth or death certificates from Suwidha centers within a short span of time.