The middle-class in India is quite unaware of the magnitude of child mortality rates as eight out of 10 people do not know that 1.83 million children under five die every year in India, a latest survey reveals.

According to the survey, “Though nearly 60 percent of those surveyed felt the problem of child mortality was very serious in India, a shocking eight out of 10 did not know that nearly 2 million children under the age of five die every year in India.”

The survey was conducted by the Global Movement for Children, a coalition of organisations that includes Save the Children, UNICEF, PLAN, CARE and World Vision.

The survey also figured out that 55 percent of respondents felt optimistic that the situation regarding child mortality had improved in India. However, India has the highest number of children dying for any country in the world, as per the UNICEF estimate which is around 1.83 million.

Child mortality is one of the important commitments (Goal 4) of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that the leaders of the world envisaged in 2000. The commitment is to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 but very few countries will meet the target, including India.

But the survey remains optimistic on this issue. “An overwhelming 92 percent of those surveyed felt that it was feasible for India to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 on reducing under-five mortality,” it added.

The survey is part of important public awareness about child mortality before the UN MDGs summit in New York in September (20-22) where they want the Indian government to play a key role in tackling child mortality.

The survey took samples of 1000 middle class population in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore.