pune maharashtra has received two awards at the national level in the target organization certification for reducing maternal mortality rate and improving the quality of facilities provided during delivery for its remarkable performance in the field of maternal health state health and family welfare minister dr tanaji sawant has specially congratulated the officers and employees of public health departmenta national maternal health workshop was organized in new delhi to exchange ideas on innovative schemes at the maternal health center to achieve the sustainable development goals sdg and reduce maternal mortality in the country the main concept of this workshop organized to reduce maternal mortality was strive to zero avoidable maternal deathstates are awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of maternal health according to the sample registration system survey report published by the registrar general of india in november 2022 the maternal mortality ratio in the country increased from 103 per lakh live births in 201719 to 97 per lakh live births in 201820 and the maternal mortality ratio in the state of maharashtra in 201719 from 38 per lakh live births to 33 per lakh live births in 201820 the state of maharashtra ranks second in reducing the maternal mortality rate in the country while the state of kerala ranks first the state was able to achieve this due to the effective implementation of schemes such as janani suraksha yojana janani shishu suraksha program pradhan mantri safe motherhood abhiyan maternity subsidy scheme manav vikas program pradhan mantri matru vandana yojana etc maharashtra has received the second award at national level in laqshya sanstha certification the central government has launched the laqshya laqshya program in december 2017 to improve the quality of facilities provided during delivery the main objective of the program is to improve the quality of maternity and maternity surgery thereby reducing maternal mortality perinatal mortality and neonatal mortality as well as providing quality care during delivery along with maternal care according to the guidelines of laqshya 2017 the lakshya program is being implemented in the state of maharashtra from the year 201819the second prize for the state of maharashtra in the asha and nurses category for outstanding work at the national level was given to geetha chopram bhendarkar a hope worker and panchfula rane a nurse from davva primary health center in gondia district