Cuttack, Sept. 16: The state government has landed in a soup for its poor show in reducing of infant mortality.

The Unicef, which also works in the area of child health care, has received a complaint in this regard.

The complainant has said that the failure of the state government-Unicef cooperation programme has led to infant deaths in the state.

Cuttack-based advocate Pravat Ranjan Dash, who lodged the complaint with the chief field office, Unicef Odisha, and sent copies to the Union minister for health, has cited the recent deaths at Nowrangpur, Phulbani, Balangir, Burla, Kendrapada districts and at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics (Sishu Bhavan).

Critical child health care facility in most of the primary health centres, community health centres and district headquarters hospitals in the state is in a deplorable condition as they are not equipped both in terms of infrastructure and manpower, the complainant has alleged.

He said: "The deaths speak volumes of the failure of the Unicef collaborated programme to achieve the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) goals related to child survival."

Unicef officials have told Dash that the complaint was accepted yesterday.

"According to the communication received, the complaint will be placed before a high power committee soon for necessary action," Dash told The Telegraph today.

Unicef has been working on key maternal and child survival areas along with the Odisha government since the introduction of National Rural Health Mission in the state in 2005.

"There is laxity in administration, co-ordination and co-operation between the departments that are supposed to work jointly," Dash said in his complaint.

According to latest reports, for every 1,000 live births, 53 infants die in the state. This is higher than the national average of 42. It is recognised that 60 per cent of the infant deaths occur during the neonatal period or the first four weeks of birth. Most of these deaths are due to pre-maturity, low birth weight, respiratory infections, diarrhoea and malnutrition.