Does a rise in incentives to pregnant women truly reflect better maternal healthcare?

MUMBAI: The ministry of health and family welfare released new figures this week towards implementation of the Janani Suraksha Yojana(JSY), a scheme aimed at reduction in infant and maternal mortality by improving coverage of institutional delivery among pregnant women.

"From a modest figure of 7.39 lakhs pregnant women as beneficiaries in 2005-06, JSY has achieved a phenomenal success by providing cash assistance to nearly 109.37 lakhs pregnant women in 2011-12," stated the ministry. The scheme's financial expenditure has increased from 38 croresin 2005-06 to 1,552.85 croresin 2011-12.

While the figures are certainly encouraging, the ministry ought to also evaluate the scheme on its grassroots functioning. Beneficiaries of the JSY often face delay in receiving their payments, and it would be worth analysing whether the payment still serves its purpose as an incentive.

In areas where public hospitals are dilapidated and under-staffed, does the mere number of deliveries in-hospital serve as a sufficient indicator of success? Should we factor in the suffering of pregnant women or their newborns towards truly improving maternal health in the country?

The JSY is implemented under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) since 2005-06. The scheme provides for cash assistance to all pregnant women for giving birth in a health facility in the eight EAG States (i.e. Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, OdishaRajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand) and in Jammu & Kashmir and Assam. In other States, pregnant women belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) and those who are from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) are eligible for the conditional cash transfer if they undergo institutional delivery in a health facility.