[Insert Figure here]
Figure 1: Cesarean section (CS) rates per 100 live births in India. a) Total, public, and private CS rates over nine consecutive financial years depicting greater CS rates in private sector facilities than those in public sector facilities contributing to a total rise in the CS rates. All rates above 19% cesarean sections per 100 live births are considered excess while those below 10% are considered inadequate (black dotted lines). b) State-wise total, public, and private CS rates for 2019-20. Most states cross the excess threshold with private CS rates being excess in all states except Bihar. The public sector has inadequate (<10%) CS rates in six states. c) Geographic variations and patterns of clustering in total CS rates across 737 districts in 2019-20. d) Public-private comparison for CS rates across districts depicts statistically significant differences.