Chandigarh,
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has conveyed his concern to Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, for the Aayog having relied on dated and sampling data in its recent report — ‘Healthy States, Progressive India’ that makes it appear that the state’s performance in the health sector is declining.

During a meeting between the two here today, the Chief Minister said the data for 2016-17 was readily available at the time of the report and had it been taken into consideration, significant improvements registered by the state on all indices compared with 2015 would have easily been recognised.

In a note that the Chief Minister handed over to Rajiv Kumar, it has been clarified that the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) has actually shown a two-point decline from 24 in 2015 to 22 in 2016, whereas the report cites the previous increase from 23 in 2014 to 24 in 2015.

Similarly, the under-five mortality rate has declined from 42 in 2015 to 37 in 2016, whereas the report cites the previous increase from 40 in 2014 to 42 in 2015. The full immunisation coverage which the report shows increased from 82.54 in 2014 to 83.47 per cent in 2015 has further improved to 89.13 per cent in 2016.

It is further clarified that as per the NITI Aayog report, the sex ratio at birth (SRB) as per the Sample Registration System (SRS) has declined from 866 per 1,000 to 831 from Base Year 2012-14 to Reference Year 2013-15.