The Indian government introduced the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) on 12th April 2005 under the National Health Mission (NHM). The scheme stands out as a safe motherhood intervention, extensively implemented in all states and Union Territories (UTs) of India. It holds a special focus on low performing states with an emphasis on maternal and neonatal healthcare services.
JSY is a centrally sponsored scheme, integrating cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care. Its primary objective is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women, notably those from socio-economically weaker backgrounds such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.
Cash Assistance of JSY
One of the key features of JSY is its provision for cash assistance to eligible pregnant women. Irrespective of the age of the mother or the number of children, financial aid is granted for childbirth in a government or accredited private health facility.
Area of Focus
JSY has a focal concentration on assisting poor pregnant women, especially in states with low institutional delivery rates. Critical attention is paid to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir, also regarded as Low Performing States (LPS) under JSY. The remaining states and UTs are categorized as High Performing States (HPS).
The Role of Accredited Social Health Activist in JSY
Adding to the unique aspects of JSY is the involvement of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who are trained female community health activists. Selected from their respective communities, they work as an interface between the community and the public health system, promoting healthy behaviors and awareness about healthcare entitlements. The ASHA also facilitates access to healthcare services and curative care needs in their area, in line with their training and skills.
National Health Mission
The National Health Mission (NHM), launched by the government of India in 2013, encapsulates the National Rural Health Mission and the National Urban Health Mission. The mission was further extended in March 2018 to continue till March 2020.
The central components of NHM include Health System Strengthening in both rural and urban areas, mainly focusing on Reproductive-Maternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases. It aims for universal access to affordable & quality health care services that are responsive to people’s needs.
| Indicators | Objectives |
|---|---|
| Reduce Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) | 1/1000 live births |
| Reduce Infant Mortality rate (IMR) | 25/1000 live births |
| Reduce Total Fertility Rate (TFR) | 2.1 |
Goals of the National Health Mission
With the aim of providing comprehensive and accountable health care, the National Health Mission envisages achieving several health indicators. It includes reducing maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate, total fertility rate, and prevention and reduction of anaemia among women aged 15 to 49 years.
The mission also focuses on preventing and reducing mortality and morbidity from communicable, non-communicable diseases, injuries and emerging diseases. Another significant target is to reduce the household out-of-pocket expenditure on total health care and decrease the annual incidence and mortality from Tuberculosis by half.
Emphasizing disease control, the mission hopes to reduce the prevalence of Leprosy to less than 1 per 10,000 population and bring the incidence to zero in all districts. The aim also extends to bringing the Annual Malaria Incidence to be less than 1 per 1000 and eliminating Kala-azar by 2015, to reach less than 1 case per 10,000 population in all blocks.
