Intra-State Disparity in Reproductive and Child Health Care Utilization Status in India

The paper examines the disparity in reproductive and child health (RCH) care utilization status among districts within the states of India over two periods, namely 2002-2004 and 2007-2008 using data from District Level Household Survey of India. The RCH care utilization status of each district within each state is determined by RCH care index value. The RCH care index for each district is computed based on four RCH care indicators using principal component analysis and aggregation method. The coefficient of variation (CV) is used to assess the degree of disparity in RCH care utilization status among the districts within the states. Results indicate that though disparity in RCH care utilization status among the districts has declined in many states, it continues to be large in some northern and north-eastern states of India. The CV in RCH care index, as of 2007-2008, is lowest in Tamil Nadu (0.035) followed by Kerala (0.047) and highest in Meghalaya (0.451) followed by Manipur (0.446). Efforts should be made to enlarge the use of RCH services in the states where large disparity in RCH services utilization exists among the districts.