Janani Suraksha Yojana, JSY

1995

India's Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is the sole programme that only requires beneficiaries to meet a single health-related conditionality (i.e. beneficiaries are required to give birth in a health facility). Considering all conditional programmes, regardless of how many conditionalities they require, most are still related to education. Only four programmes impose conditionalities related to health.

The scheme currently covers more than 10 million beneficiaries every year. Most recent consolidated figures, for the period 2017-20187, indicate a coverage of 104.59 lack beneficiaries.

The programme had an expenditure of INR1788.10 crores (1 crore = 10,000,000) in 2016-17

Nationwide, with priority given to ‘low-performing states’ (LPS) in terms of institutional delivery rates: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya, Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir. The other states are considered ‘high-performing states’ (HPS) for the purposes of the programme

Poor pregnant women. India’s Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), highlights two important points. First, it is a good example of tailoring programme targeting to local circumstances by allowing some flexibility in determining the scope of the programme and its primary targets. Furthermore, it illustrates a way for programmes to reduce costs while maintaining a similar impact by avoiding coverage of not-at-risk individuals. As this relies solely on administrative data at the state level and does not require any microdata on the actual individuals to be covered, it is also a feasible approach when data are scarce or not available.

India’s Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). It aims to improve maternal and child safety during birth by promoting institutional delivery among poor women. Interestingly, eligibility criteria differ between states depending on their current performance regarding institutional delivery rates. In low-performing states, the programme covers all women delivering in public health centres regardless of any vulnerability criteria, as well as those women classified as ‘below the poverty line’ (BPL) and members of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe delivering in accredited private institutions. However, in states that already have higher institutional delivery rates, the programme is reserved for those considered BPL or Scheduled Castes or Tribes.

India’s Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) consists of a cash transfer to women who attend perinatal medical appointments and another transfer to the social workers (ASHAs) who actively facilitate access to these health services. F

For LPS in rural areas: mothers’ package of INR1400 and ASHA package of INR600 For LPS in urban areas: mothers’ package of INR 1000 and ASHA package of INR400 For HPS in rural areas: mothers’ package of INR700 and ASHA package of INR600 For HPS in urban areas: mothers’ package of INR600 and ASHA’s package of INR400 Women below the poverty line who prefer to deliver at home are also entitled to INR500 ASHAS receive the abovementioned values per pregnant women they enable having prenatal monitoring and institutional delivery

One-time payment, immediately at the health facility or a week after the delivery

The government has scaled up the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode of payment nationwide, so that beneficiaries can receive the benefit directly in their bank accounts

The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) offers benefits to poor women who deliver institutionally (and to community workers who facilitate this). Yet JSY beneficiaries are often a subgroup of PMMVY beneficiaries, and the delivery of one programme often leads to enrolment in the other. Despite this very integrated and synchronised approach, we prefer to report these as separate programmes, given their operational differences and that they are institutionally linked to different ministries.

Implementation Committees oversee the overall monitoring and evaluation of the scheme and report to the central government