Social Science Spectrum ISSN 2454-2806 Vol. 3, No. 2, June 2017, pp. 81-92 81 Infant Mortality in Northern and Southern Regions of India: Differentials and Determinants Kamalesh Kumar Patel * & Jitendra Gouda ** Abstract Using the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) 2005-06 data, this paper examines the differentials and determinants of IMR in northern and southern regions of India – which record two extreme levels (highest and lowest respectively). Inferential statistics, bivariate analysis and multilevel Cox proportional regression were used as the methods of analysis. The result suggests that IMR is more pronounced in the northern than southern region. This was observed across the factors taken into consideration in the study. Nevertheless, mother’s illiteracy, working status, and marrying and delivering first child at a young age were the major mother-related factors for a high IMR. Birth interval of less than two years, being of small-sized at birth, being a female child, and not breastfed at the time of survey were the main child-related factors for a high IMR. Further, poor economic condition, living in a rural area and not having access to basic civic amenities were the key household-related covariates of a high IMR. Female literacy, utilization of mother and child healthcare, and availing basic civic amenities at household level is essential to bring reduction in the IMR - without which achieving the recently crafted SDG 3 will be difficult for India. Key words: Infant mortality, Northern and Southern regions, India I. Introduction Mortality is one of the important demographic components that controls population growth. It has an unequal effect on the age of any given population. In general, mortality affects the younger and older populations more than the adults (Lahariya & Paul, 2010). Significant differences are observed in the prevalence of mortality among diverse socioeconomic groups and geographical regions (Saikia et al., 2009). Such diversity exists primarily due to the lack of access to basic healthcare and control over resources (Muller, 2002). Children dying before their first birthday is referred to as ‘Infant mortality’, and this is often used as a proxy indicator to assess the health and developmental status of a nation (Heisler, 2012). It is also a significant determinant of the overall fertility and life expectancy of a population (Canudas-Romo & Becker, 2011). Globally, 4.5 million deaths occurred within the first year of life in 2015 – three-fourths of the total under- five mortality in 2015. The corresponding figure is notably higher in the African and Asian countries (IGME, 2015). In India, the infant mortality rate (IMR) is unacceptably higher than many other developing and developed countries (Singh et al., 2011). As per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS), India recorded an IMR of 39 per 1000 live births, which is 4 times higher than the IMR of Sri Lanka in 2009 (RGI, 2016; Annual Health Bulletin, 2012). The figure is 17 times higher than countries like Finland and Japan, which recorded an IMR of only 2.3 per 1000 live births in 2010 (Mac Dorman et al., 2014). The intra-country analysis further suggests that infant mortality is not uniformly distributed across the geographical regions or states in India (Singh et al., 2011). In a nutshell, most of the southern states of India have recorded an IMR which is below the national average and, in fact, achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) – * Kamalesh Kumar Patel, Research Fellow (Population Studies), International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088. Email: kamaleshkumar.patel@gmail.com ** Jitendra Gouda, Doctoral Fellow (Population Studies), International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088. Email: jitushome@gmail.com Acknowledgement: The authors thank the referees of the journal for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.