A Preliminary Analysis of the Relationship Between Generalised Deprivation and Infant Mortality in Rural India

Type Conference Paper - Mortality as Both a Determinant and a Consequence of Poverty and Hunger Seminar
Title A Preliminary Analysis of the Relationship Between Generalised Deprivation and Infant Mortality in Rural India
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2005
City Thiruvananthapuram
Country/State India
URL http://www.cicred.org/Eng/Seminars/Details/Seminars/Trivandrum2005/TrivandrumJAYARAJ.pdf
Abstract
In this paper an attempt has been made to examine the relationship between poverty and infant mortality in rural India. In the process, a case has been advanced in favour of measuring deprivation in non-income dimensions, particularly in the sphere of access to infrasructural facilities. To this end, an index of ‘generalised deprivation’ of access to infrastructural facilities has been constructed. This index has been employed to explore the relationship between deprivation and infant mortality. The results show that the incidence of generalised deprivation has positive impact on infant mortality, which suggests that there is a case for improving access to basic infrastructural facilities such as drinking water provided by a tap, public transport, healthcare facilities, clean fuel, electricity for lighting, and ‘pucca’ road. Also, in this paper, an account of the magnitude and spatial variability in the incidence of generalised deprivation suffered by the rural population in India is provided, which is expected to be of considerable use to planners and policy makers.

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