New Delhi, Oct 29 : India's infant mortality rate (IMR) has seen a dip from last year but an international NGO here said that India, with current IMR of 53 deaths per 1,000 live births, is still a long way off the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) targets.

According to the latest figures of the Sample Registration System (SRS), the IMR of 2008 is just two deaths less than that of 2007 at 55 deaths per 1,000 births.

In 2006, the IMR was 57 deaths per 1,000 births.

"There has been a marginal decrease in the IMR in 2008 than the previous year, as was stated by the government in this October's SRS bulletin. Compared to the period 2005 to 2006 when the IMR declined by only one (death) per 1,000 live births, this is an improvement," Priya Subramanian of Save the Children said.

"However, such gradual improvements will not bring the IMR down to 30 by 2012, which the NRHM aims to achieve. Even at the present rate, India will reach an IMR of 30 per 1,000 live births only after 11 and-a-half-years, that is by 2021," she added.

According to Subramanian, if India were to achieve the fixed NRHM target, it has to do a lot more.

"If India has to reach an IMR of 30 by 2012, then there has to be an annual decline of 5.75 per 1,000 live births in these four years between," she said. (IANS)