UPSC Prelims 2023 Q51: Janani Suraksha Yojana — Explained
Consider the following statements in relation to Janani Suraksha Yojana:
1. It is a safe motherhood intervention of the State Health Departments.
2. Its objective is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality among poor pregnant women.
3. It aims to promote institutional delivery among poor pregnant women.
4. Its objective includes providing public health facilities to sick infants up to one year of age.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
- Only one
- Only two
- Only three
- All four
Answer: (b) Only two
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — The National Health Mission describes JSY as "a safe motherhood intervention under the National Health Mission", not a programme of the State Health Departments. It is a centrally sponsored scheme of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, launched on 12 April 2005. States and UTs implement it, but the scheme belongs to the Centre under NHM. The words "State Health Departments" were swapped in for "National Health Mission" to make this statement wrong.
- 2: correct — The official objective of JSY is "reducing maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor pregnant women". The statement repeats the first half of that line. Both maternal deaths and newborn deaths are targets.
- 3: correct — Promoting institutional delivery is the way JSY works. A woman gets the cash only if she delivers in a government or accredited private health facility. In Low Performing States the mother gets ₹1,400 in rural areas and ₹1,000 in urban areas. The ASHA who brings her to the facility also gets an incentive.
- 4: incorrect — Free treatment in public health facilities for sick infants up to one year of age is part of the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK), not JSY. JSSK was launched in June 2011 to end out-of-pocket spending on delivery. In 2013–14 it was extended to all antenatal and postnatal complications and to sick infants up to one year. JSY gives a cash incentive for delivery. It does not cover infant treatment.
How to eliminate
Statements 2 and 3 are taken almost word for word from JSY's official objective: reducing maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor pregnant women. If you know the scheme's name ("Janani Suraksha" means safety of the mother) and that it pays cash for delivering in a hospital, you can accept both. Statement 1 changes one phrase. JSY is a centrally sponsored scheme under the National Health Mission, so "of the State Health Departments" is wrong. As a rule, a scheme with a Union-level name launched by the Prime Minister is not a State Health Department programme. Statement 4 borrows a feature from a different scheme, the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram ("Shishu" means child). The infant is the clue: JSY is about the mother and the delivery. You cannot solve this by option logic alone. You need two facts: JSY sits under NHM as a central scheme, and free care for sick infants up to one year belongs to JSSK. Expect UPSC to keep mixing up JSY, JSSK, PMSMA and PMMVY.
Know more
The maternal-health scheme family under NHM
JSY (2005) was India's main response to low institutional delivery. It is a conditional cash transfer: the mother gets money only if she delivers in a health facility. It is 100% centrally sponsored. It gives special focus to 10 Low Performing States (LPS): UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha and J&K. In LPS every woman delivering in a government facility is eligible. In High Performing States (HPS) only BPL and SC/ST women are eligible.
| Area | Mother's package | ASHA's package |
|---|---|---|
| LPS rural | ₹1,400 | ₹600 |
| LPS urban | ₹1,000 | ₹400 |
| HPS rural | ₹700 | ₹600 |
| HPS urban | ₹600 | ₹400 |
JSY raised demand, but families still paid for drugs, tests and transport. Other schemes were added to cover these gaps:
| Scheme | Year | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) | 2005 | Cash for institutional delivery |
| Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) | 2011 | Free delivery (including C-section), drugs, diagnostics, diet, blood and transport; extended to sick infants up to 1 year |
| Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) | 2016 | Free antenatal check-up by a doctor on the 9th of every month |
| LaQshya | 2017 | Quality improvement of labour rooms and maternity OTs |
| SUMAN | 2019 | Assured, dignified, zero-cost maternal and newborn care at public facilities |
Results: institutional births rose from 38.7% (NFHS-3, 2005–06) to 78.9% (NFHS-4, 2015–16) and 88.6% (NFHS-5, 2019–21). The Registrar General's Sample Registration System put the Maternal Mortality Ratio at 130 per lakh live births in 2014–16 and 97 in 2018–20. That is below the National Health Policy 2017 target of 100.
In the news
In November 2022 the Registrar General's special bulletin reported that India's Maternal Mortality Ratio fell to 97 per lakh live births in 2018–20, from 130 in 2014–16. This put the schemes behind the fall, JSY among them, in the news before the 2023 Prelims. NFHS-5 data showing institutional births at 88.6% also kept JSY's results in the news.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Conditional cash transfer: JSY pays mothers only on the condition of delivering in a health facility, which makes it a classic conditional cash transfer.
- Maternal mortality ratio: Statement 2 is about cutting maternal deaths, and the Maternal Mortality Ratio is the measure used to track that.