MPPSC 2026 Prelims Q21: As per the sample registration system, what was the Under-5

Q: What is the answer to MPPSC 2026 Prelims Q21?

B. Correct — B, 32. The Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020, released by the Office of the Registrar General of India in September 2022, put India's Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) at 32 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020 — down 3 points from 35 in 2019. The same round reported an Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 28 and a Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) of 20 for 2020, so 32 is the U5MR figure specifically.

MPPSC 2026 Prelims Paper-I · Question 21 of 100

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official MPPSC answer key.

As per the sample registration system, what was the Under-5 mortality rate in 2020 in India?

(a)26
(b)32
(c)41
(d)54

Answer

Why

Correct — B, 32. The Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020, released by the Office of the Registrar General of India in September 2022, put India's Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) at 32 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020 — down 3 points from 35 in 2019. The same round reported an Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 28 and a Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) of 20 for 2020, so 32 is the U5MR figure specifically.

Why the others are wrong

(a)26 — Too low for 2020. India's U5MR was still in the low-30s that year; a rate near 25 is the SDG 3.2 target India is working towards by 2030, not what SRS 2020 recorded.
(c)41 — Belongs to an earlier period — U5MR had already fallen to 35 by 2019, so 41 reflects India's mid-2010s level, not 2020. (41 is also the rural IMR India reported in 2015, an easy number to mis-file.)
(d)54 — Far too high — that is roughly where India's under-5 mortality stood in the early 2010s. Child mortality has fallen steadily every SRS round since.

Concept

The Sample Registration System is the Registrar General of India's large-scale, dual-record demographic survey; it is the official annual source for India's birth rate, death rate, IMR, NMR and U5MR, and it is what the government uses to report SDG-3 progress. The three child-mortality indicators differ only in the age window: NMR counts deaths in the first 28 days, IMR deaths before the first birthday, and U5MR deaths before the fifth birthday — all per 1,000 live births. Because U5MR is the widest window, it is always the largest of the three for the same year.

The trap is not the topic, it is the pairing. For 2020 the SRS reports NMR 20, IMR 28 and U5MR 32; an aspirant who has memorised 'IMR 28' but not the indicator names will hunt for a number near 28 and pick 26. Also watch the year: SRS 2020 was released in September 2022, so 'SRS 2020' means reference year 2020, not the publication year.

Key facts

SRS Statistical Report 2020 (released September 2022 by the Registrar General of India): U5MR 32 per 1,000 live births, down from 35 in 2019
Same round for 2020: IMR 28 (from 30 in 2019) and NMR 20 (from 22 in 2019)
U5MR 2020 split: 36 in rural India against 21 in urban India
SDG target 3.2 for 2030: U5MR at or below 25 and NMR at or below 12 per 1,000 live births
SRS 2020 state picture: Madhya Pradesh had the highest IMR (43); Kerala the lowest

SRS 2020 — India's three child-mortality indicators (per 1,000 live births)

Neonatal Mortality Rate (deaths in first 28 days)→20 in 2020 (22 in 2019)

Infant Mortality Rate (deaths before age 1)→28 in 2020 (30 in 2019)

Under-5 Mortality Rate (deaths before age 5)→32 in 2020 (35 in 2019) — the answer

SDG 3.2 targets for 2030→U5MR ≤ 25 and NMR ≤ 12

Same year, three different windows — the wider the age window, the higher the rate. The question asks for the widest one.

Study next

SRS vs NFHS vs Civil Registration System — what each measures and who publishes itMaternal Mortality Ratio and the SRS Special Bulletin on MMRSDG 3 indicators and India's National Indicator Framework (MoSPI)Demographic transition: crude birth rate, crude death rate, total fertility rateMadhya Pradesh's health indicators — IMR, MMR, institutional deliveries

Common traps

Swapping IMR (28) with U5MR (32) or NMR (20) for the same year
Confusing the SRS reference year with its release year (SRS 2020 was released in 2022)
Quoting NFHS-5 numbers for an SRS question — the two surveys use different methods and give different figures

MPPSC asks for the exact number for a stated year and source ('as per SRS, U5MR in 2020'); UPSC prefers the concept — how IMR/NMR/U5MR are defined and per how many live births they are expressed.

Related PYQs

UPSC_2009_GS1_Q762009Open & attempt →

Consider the following statements : 1. Infant mortality rate takes into account the death of infants within a month after birth. 2. Infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths in a particular year, per 100 live births during that year. Which of the above statements is/are correct ?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Same family of indicators — UPSC tested the definition of infant mortality (deaths under one year, per 1,000 live births), which is exactly the distinction MPPSC 2026 exploits between IMR and U5MR.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which organisation publishes the Sample Registration System (SRS) reports in India?
- (a)Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India
- (b)NITI Aayog
- (c)Indian Council of Medical Research
- (d)National Sample Survey Office
Answer(a) Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India — the RGI, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, runs the SRS.
practice — not a real PYQ
The Infant Mortality Rate is expressed as the number of deaths of infants below one year of age per:
- (a)1,000 live births
- (b)1,00,000 live births
- (c)1,000 population
- (d)10,000 women of reproductive age
Answer(a) 1,000 live births — IMR, NMR and U5MR are all per 1,000 live births; it is MMR that is per 1,00,000 live births.