One may wonder, What is Janani Suraksha Yojana? The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY Scheme) is a scheme that was initiated under the National Health Mission. It is a scheme that aims to provide safe motherhood intervention through the Janani Suraksha Yojana benefits. Mortality for mothers, especially those who have just given birth and newborn infants, is still an ordinary happening in India, which is still a developing country. Our maternal and infant care resources have yet to develop to the extent that we can avoid this from happening altogether. Still, specific structures have been put in place in the healthcare system so that this may occur less, such as the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY Scheme). This scheme intends to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality as far as possible. Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) have been identified through the Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) as a helpful link between the government and pregnant women.

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Why Is Preventing Maternal And Neonatal Mortality Through Schemes Such As the Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) Important?

Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) Scheme - Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) Scheme

India is now said to be the most populous country in the world. It is a country with a lot of diversity, different types of regions, and a healthcare system that is ever-burdened with more and more patients. To provide good healthcare to those who bring the next generation into our world and the persons who will be the next generation in our country, it is important to ensure that they receive good quality care at pivotal moments. The mortality of women giving birth is a huge issue. In India, according to statistics that the United Nations have provided, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India for the period 2016-18, as per the latest report of the national Sample Registration System (SRS) data, is 113/100,000 live births, declining by 17 points, from 130/ 100,000 live births in 2014-16.

How Does The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) Bring India Closer As A Nation To Universal Healthcare?

Universal Healthcare is an essential topic in today’s world of healthcare. Delegating quality healthcare to those with more privilege than others is not considered acceptable anymore. Administrations of different countries have taken it into their hands to ensure that everyone in the country can, at the very least, get clean, timely, and professionally assisted healthcare by individuals qualified to make medical decisions and do medical procedures. Universal healthcare means providing medical services to all young or old, poor or rich, working professionals or homemakers. By providing medical services to our society’s sensitive and poorer sects, we move closer to ensuring that no one lacks healthcare. Besides monetary funds, there are other issues when it comes to obtaining certain kinds of healthcare, even maternal healthcare, such as social stigma related to specific procedures or medicines, lack of consent when it comes to making specific medical decisions, whether someone wants to go through with some medical treatment or not, etc. But the Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) is an excellent first step.

History Of The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme)

Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) is one of the largest Conditional Cash Transfer schemes to exist in the world. The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) was launched in 2005. It aimed to assist pregnant mothers and Accredited Social Health Activists with cash assistance. The scheme is a part of the National Rural Mission, referred to as the National Health Mission. The Janani Suraksha Yojana benefits seek to accord those who are expecting or have given birth along with their newborns with good quality medical assistance in medical institutions that can offer them these services with the appropriate quality. Medical assistance is provided primarily by giving cash benefits; the assistance should be the Janani Suraksha Yojana amount or the JSY scheme amount. The JSY scheme was initiated by modifying the National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS). Since 2005, the scheme has been playing a significant role in reducing the mortality of mothers and children during birth.

What Exactly Does The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY Scheme) Offer?

The primary purpose of the Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) is to reduce maternal and infant mortality by making good quality healthcare and healthcare facilities available to people. At the same time, they are pregnant, delivering a child, and after giving birth, as well as proper medical assistance to the newborn child. Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) is a scheme that the Central Government has sponsored. This scheme integrates cash assistance when it comes to the treatment done through the Janani Suraksha Yojana amount or JSY scheme amount to provide delivery and post-delivery care in different situations. The Yojana has identified Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) as an effective link between the government and pregnant women.

Benefits Of Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme)

The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) offers women who are currently pregnant three antenatal checkups as well as institutional delivery with proper facilities to carry out a safe birth. Through the various Janani Suraksha Yojana benefits, institutional delivery will be facilitated through the different benefits and the assistance offered in cash through the scheme. The scheme encourages women to have their deliveries at formal health institutions. This is because of the presence of qualified healthcare professionals at these institutions as well as proper infrastructure and facilities to give birth to a child in a proper manner and ensure proper care in the case of emergencies for both the mother and child or children. A graded scale has been established based on which cash assistance is given to the beneficiaries with the Janani Suraksha Yojana amount. To promote delivery at formal institutions and delivery, assistance in the form of cash has been offered to women who are below the poverty line (BPL) so that they may be able to pay for a delivery that can take place in a safe, sanitized, and professionally assisted environment.

Will Beneficiary Persons Be Assisted In A C-Section Delivery Through The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme)?

Women may also be assisted through the complicated process of having a child through a C- section delivery regarding the Janani Suraksha Yojana benefits. There will be a professional who will be able to assist with the whole process. However, it is essential to note that if a woman needs to hire someone herself privately or arrangements need to be made for her for private delivery, financial assistance will be provided to her. Financial assistance of up to Rs. 1,500 per pregnant may be given to a woman so that they can hire a private expert to perform the surgery at a healthcare institution. If a Tubectomy or Laparoscopic surgery is suggested to the patient, the scheme beneficiary will receive compensation for the same procedure. This is according to the Family Welfare Scheme. Based on some particular terms and conditions, Rs. 5,000 will be provided to every Auxiliary Nurse Midwife or health worker, as per the scheme.

What Other Groups May Benefit From The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme)?

There are other target groups when it comes to the benefits that have been offered by the scheme. They may not be limited to any expecting mothers, those delivering or having delivered a baby or newborn infants. Through the scheme, some types of incentives may also be provided to ASHA workers or those who are equivalent to them. Birth attendants are in different parts of the country, usually called ‘Dai.’ These birth attendants may be trained under the program to prepare them for different situations and become proficient in understanding their role and field, after which they may be assimilated into the different delivery care systems in the country.

Eligibility Criteria For The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme)

Before taking up the benefits of the Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme), one must check if they are eligible for it. The cash-based assistance will then be given to eligible people who apply for the scheme appropriately. Women who fall into the BPL or Below the Poverty Line category may be eligible for the scheme. The pregnant person must be above the age of 19, and those women below the age of 19 will not be able to register for the scheme or avail of its different kinds of benefits. This will be the eligibility criteria regardless of their location in the country, be it a village or city. The women who take up the scheme should only have up to two live births. Pregnant women registered under the JSY scheme and delivered in government hospitals or selected private medical centers are eligible under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) Scheme.

Outcomes Of The Scheme

The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) has had many advantages for many women in a society that has decided to take up its benefits. It was observed that those who benefitted from the scheme were seen to be 12% more likely to use contraception, 8% were more likely to start breastfeeding their newborn child within one hour of the delivery, and 6% seemed more likely to get their postnatal checkup than their counterparts. The Janani Suraksha Yojana Scheme (JSY Scheme) has not only been instrumental in offering the people that benefit from it more health-related benefits, but also education, assistance, and guidance related to it, which will affect them beyond the birth of the child or children or the medical assistance they may receive at the time. It truly has changed the lives of those that have interacted with the maternal care infrastructure in the country.

Importance Of Maternal Health

Maternal health is essential to everyone in the country. Everyone that has been alive at any time was somehow, somewhere a part of this process of pre-birth, giving birth, and post-birth care. Since this issue affects everyone, we must put our efforts into understanding how important it is and the way in which we can improve the healthcare system in the country to make this experience better for those who are going through it. Taking care of the next generation of citizens in our country and ensuring they get a good start is also essential.

Conclusion

The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) Scheme ensures that both elements are taken care of regarding healthcare, playing an essential role in this sensitive process. India has a massive population and is set soon to become the most populous country on the planet, calling for a lot of measures to be taken when it comes to quality maternal care and the provision of hospital facilities and assistance that meet global standards. It is imperative to have schemes such as Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) Scheme to bring the lifestyle in India to a global level. While the unintended effects of JSY were quite solid and significant in states that have been regarded as low-performing, JSY should continue to be extended even further. Even more, people should access the scheme’s benefits. As the scheme’s influence continues to grow, there needs to be more focus on even more areas that relate to maternal health, the health of infants, and their healthy being.

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