- Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission (NHM).
- It is being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.
- The scheme is under implementation in all states and Union Territories (UTs), with a special focus on Low Performing States (LPS).
- It  was  launched  in  April  2005  by  modifying  the  National  Maternity  Benefit  Scheme (NMBS).
- The NMBS came into effect in August 1995 as one of the components of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).
- The scheme was transferred from the Ministry of Rural Development to the Department of Health & Family Welfare during the year 2001-02.
The scheme focuses on poor pregnant woman with a special dispensation for states that have low institutional delivery rates, namely, the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Orissa, and Jammu and Kashmir. While these states have been named Low Performing States (LPS), the remaining states have been named High Performing states (HPS).
The scheme also provides performance based incentives to women health volunteers known as ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) for promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.
Under this initiative, eligible pregnant women are entitled to get JSY benefit directly into their bank accounts. Cash entitlement for different categories of mothers is as follows:
Cash Assistance for Institutional Delivery (in Rs.)
| Category | Rural Area | Urban Area | ||
| Mother’s package | ASHA’s package* | Mother’s package | ASHA’s package** | |
| LPS | All pregnant women delivering in government health centres 1400 | 600 | 1000 | 400 |
| HPS | All BPL/Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) women delivering in a government health centre 700 | 600 | 600 | 400 |
In both LPS & HPS, BPL/SC/ST women are entitled for cash assistance in accredited private institutions
*ASHA package of Rs. 600 in rural areas include Rs. 300 for ANC (antenatal care) component and Rs. 300 for facilitating institutional delivery
*ASHA package of Rs. 400 in urban areas include Rs. 200 for ANC component and Rs. 200 for facilitating institutional delivery
Cash assistance for home delivery
BPL pregnant women, who prefer to deliver at home, are entitled to a cash assistance of Rs. 500 per delivery regardless of the age of pregnant women and number of children.
Source : PIB, The Hindu, Google, Wikipedia, Vikaspedia, The Indian Express etc
Disclaimer : The notes are free for Students
