India, May 29 -- First, the good news - infant mortality rate (IMR) in India has gone down from 30 to 24 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2019 and 2024. According to the recently released Sample Registration System (SRS) 2024, this decline, by an average of one point annually, has been the fastest so far. However, the not-so-good news is that many states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and Rajasthan are still lagging behind and have a higher IMR than the national average of 24.

But the more worrying news is that gender disparities continue to persist. More girls die before they reach the age of one than boys, and this is seen even in states like Odisha, which has brought down its IMR by a significant 2...