GUWAHATI, March 9 � In what can be considered good news in the field of child care in Assam, the State Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has come down to 48 per thousand from the 65 per thousand in the year 2005.
State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while announcing this at the inaugural function of the Integrated Child Care Centre at the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH), confirmed that the State IMR is below the national average.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi inaugurated the centre, called Snehashish, in the presence of Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons and RK Krishna Kumar, director of the group.
The Tata Trust is also associated with the MMCH and the child care scenario of Assam through Operation Smile, which has brought back the smiles to more than 2,000 children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate.
�The joy of whatever we have been able to do with the trust is amplified ten times, when we get to see the transformation in front of our eyes. I am pleased to see that the trust has been able to support children and some adults also, in this small way,� said Ratan Tata, who visited the child care wards of the hospital before attending the inaugural function.
The Snehashis centre would also have a permanent set up of Operation Smile worth Rs 2.5 crore that would make possible cleft lip and palate surgeries throughout the year.
The child care centre at the MMCH is one of the four centres that are being developed in the State in Dibrugarh, Nalbari and Golaghat districts. Such facility would soon be launched in 28 districts of the State.
