Bhubaneswar, Aug. 8: The state government has taken steps to launch a special scheme in 161 backward and inaccessible blocks to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates.

These blocks are located in the tribal-dominated and backward districts of Balangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sonepur and Sundargarh.

A sum of Rs 211 crore will be spent over the next five years to implement the scheme, which is to be entirely funded by the state government. So far, funds to the tune of Rs 95 crore have been allotted for the scheme, said official sources.

Under the new scheme, each identified district will be allotted funds ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore depending upon their needs. Regular health check-ups of high-risk infants will also be taken up under the scheme, while integrated rural health and nutrition day will be observed on the earmarked days. Special immunisation programmes will be held, and nutrition centres will be set up in the vulnerable pockets.

Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi today asked officials of the health and family welfare department and the women and child development department to implement the programme so as to get concrete results.

Giving an update on its implementation, health and family welfare secretary Arti Ahuja said 15 teams had been formed to implement the scheme. The 15 teams will also monitor implementation of the scheme. The joint management committees had also been formed at the state level. The field-level implementation and service delivery would start from October.

In another development, the emergency care centres for mothers and children have been set up, and training has been imparted to the state and district-level functionaries. Trainers have also been kept ready to groom field-level personnel to bring them up to the mark, she said.

Over the past decade, the state has registered high infant and maternal mortality rates, prompting the government to formulate an infant mortality reduction mission.

According to a survey, the infant mortality rate in the state has come down from 51 per 1,000 in 2013 to 49 in 2014 as against the national average of 40. Similarly, the maternal mortality rate has been reduced to 222 per one lakh deaths in the state over the same period.