Possible to achieve 2030 SDG target of reducing maternal mortality rate: MoSPI report

Marching forward in social, economic and political terms

The government is in line to achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) target of reducing the maternal mortality rate to 70 per lakh live births by 2030, the ministry of statistics and programme implementation said in its Women and Men in India 2023 report on August 12.

The report released at the 28th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organizations (CoCSSO) noted that India has made significant gains in reducing maternal mortality rate and well in time.

India’s MMR reduced to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20 compared with 254 in 2004-06 and 130 in 2011-12.

The report pointed to other significant improvements in gender equality. India’s sex ratio is expected to improve to 952 per 1,000 males in 2036 from 943 today.

It pointed put that the gap between boys and girls in under five mortality has also reduced.

The report also indicated that meanwhile, age-specific fertility rates and adolescent fertility rates has also declined.

Better economically and politically

The report also noted an improvement not just in social but economic indicators as well.

Female labour force participation for instance has improved to 37 percent in 2022-23 from 23.3 percent in 2017-18.

“The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognized a total of 1,17,254 start-ups since its inception in January 2016 up to December 2023. Among these, 55,816 start-ups are led by women, constituting 47.6% of the total recognized start-ups,” the release by the ministry stated.

Moreover, participation in election processes has also gone up.

The number of women electors participating in Lok Sabha at 67.2 percent were higher than the male counterparts and had increased from 53.6 percent in 2004.