Key Maternal and Child Health Schemes in India

India addresses maternal and child health through a comprehensive framework of institutional support, financial incentives, and community-based interventions. The goal is to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) by improving access to medical care before, during, and after childbirth. These programs focus on institutional deliveries, nutritional support, immunization, and early childhood development to ensure positive health outcomes across all socio-economic groups.

Janani Suraksha Yojana

The Janani Suraksha Yojana is a conditional cash transfer scheme under the National Health Mission. It aims to promote institutional deliveries among pregnant women, especially those from low-income households.

• The scheme provides financial assistance to mothers who choose to give birth in government or accredited private health facilities.

• It targets women in both rural and urban areas to minimize risks associated with home births.

• Cash incentives are provided to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) for facilitating institutional deliveries and escorting pregnant women to health centers.

• The amount of assistance varies by state, categorized into High Performing States and Low Performing States based on their historical performance in institutional births.

Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram

Launched in 2011, this initiative mandates that all pregnant women and sick infants are entitled to completely free and cashless services in public health institutions.

• It eliminates out-of-pocket expenses for services like drugs, diagnostics, blood, and diet.

• Pregnant women are entitled to free transport from home to the health facility, between facilities in case of referrals, and back home.

• The program covers free treatment for neonates and infants up to one year of age.

• It ensures that no user fees are charged for any services related to pregnancy or neonatal care in government hospitals.

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana

This maternity benefit program provides partial wage compensation for women who are wage-earners so that they can take adequate rest before and after delivery.

• The scheme offers a cash incentive of five thousand rupees in three installments.

• It applies to the first living child of the family.

• Beneficiaries must register their pregnancy at health facilities and undergo at least one antenatal check-up.

• The payment is made directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer.

• Government employees are excluded from this scheme as they already receive paid maternity leave.

Poshan Abhiyaan

Poshan Abhiyaan or the Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition serves as the flagship program to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.

• It addresses the problem of stunting, undernutrition, and low birth weight.

• The program uses a technology-driven approach to monitor and track the nutritional status of beneficiaries.

• Anganwadi centers act as the primary delivery points for nutritional supplements and health check-ups.

• It emphasizes behavior change communication to promote exclusive breastfeeding and proper complementary feeding practices.

Integrated Child Development Services

This program provides a package of services to children below six years of age and to pregnant or nursing mothers.

• It functions through a network of Anganwadi centers across the country.

• Services include supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-ups, and referral services.

• It provides non-formal pre-school education to children between three and six years.

• The program tracks the growth of children to detect malnutrition at an early stage.

Mission Indradhanush

This immunization drive focuses on achieving full immunization coverage for children and pregnant women who are left out or missed out on routine immunization services.

• It targets children up to two years of age and pregnant women.

• The mission covers diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles, and hepatitis B.

• Special vaccination drives are conducted in hard-to-reach areas and urban slums.

• It operates as a catch-up campaign to strengthen the existing routine immunization system.

Key Facts and Trivia

• The Maternal Mortality Ratio is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per one lakh live births.

• The Infant Mortality Rate indicates the number of deaths of children under one year of age per one thousand live births.

• ASHA workers serve as the primary link between the community and the public health system.

• The Poshan Abhiyaan was launched in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.

• Direct Benefit Transfer ensures that funds reach beneficiaries without intermediaries or delays.

• The Integrated Child Development Services scheme was started in 1975.

• Routine immunization in India protects against twelve vaccine-preventable diseases under the Universal Immunization Programme.