The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined from 167 in 2011-2013 to 130 in 2014-2016, according to a special bulletin issued by the Health Ministry today.

MMR is defined as the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births.

The decline has been most significant in Empowered Action Group (EAG) states and Assam, from 246 to 188, it said.

The Special Bulletin of Maternal Mortality in India stated that among the southern states, the decline has been from 93 to 77 and in "other" states from 115 to 93.

"The latest SRS figures reveal that we have gone beyond the MDG target of Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 139 by 2015 & have reached 130!! I congratulate the Ministry, @MoHFW_India and the states for their joint efforts," Union Health Minister J P Nadda said on Twitter.

The bulletin was released under Sample Registration System (SRS).

To understand the maternal mortality situation in the country better and to map the changes that have taken place, especially at the regional level, the government has categorised states into three groups -- EAG, southern states and "other" states.

EAG states comprise Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Assam.

The southern states are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the "other" states categories cover the remaining states and Union territories.

The first report on maternal mortality in India (1997-2003), describing trends, causes and risk factors, was released in October, 2006.

The present bulletin, which provides only the levels of maternal mortality for the period 2014-16, is being brought out as a sequel to the previous bulletin (2011-13).

The survey for the current bulletin covered 62,96,101 pregnant women out of which 556 died.

Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes."