1.87 lakh kids below one died in 2013: Report

Around 1.87 lakh children below the age of one died in the country in 2013, with Maharashtra and West Bengal topping the list, a recent government report has said.

Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha are also among the top five states, where the largest number of such deaths took place, according to the “Annual Report on Vital Statistics of India based on Civil Registration System-2013”.

Of the 1.87 lakh dead child, 80,609 (42.94 per cent) were girls. Across age groups, India witnessed 60.86 lakh deaths in 2013.

The figures, based on the registration of deaths with authorities, showed Maharashtra had at least 22,159 deaths of children below the age of one, followed by West Bengal, which had 18,992.

Uttar Pradesh had 18,760 such deaths while Karnataka had 15,221, followed by Odisha, with 15,076.

Officials said the statistics are based only on the registration of deaths in states and might not show an accurate picture.

“This numbers are close to reality, as we have achieved a rise in registrations of births and deaths. It is about 85 per cent for the country,” said the officials. The report has not mentioned the causes of deaths.

According to the report, the share of infant deaths in rural area is 33.1 per cent, against 66.9 per cent in urban areas.

“Non registration of infant deaths in rural area is a cause of concern, which may be due to non-reporting of infant deaths to registrars,” said the report. Also, these figures exclude those from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand because information has not been received from these states.

Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka also top the list in deaths of children aged 1-4 years. While MP had 10,714 such deaths, Karnataka had 7,357, followed by West Bengal (7,191).

In the 5-14 age group, Telangana had the highest number of deaths at 18,312, followed by Madhya Pradesh (12,163) and Karnataka (10,050).

Telangana again had the highest figures in the 25-34 years age group, with 52,829 deaths, while Madhya Pradesh was a distant second with 26,407 such deaths.