Send to friendThis document describes the main features of the Janani Suraksha Yojana RBF program supported by the World Bank in India.
In 2005, the Government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) with a strong commitment to reduce maternal and infant mortality, provide universal access to public health services, prevent and control communicable and non communicable diseases, ensure population stabilization, maintain gender balance and revitalize local health traditions. A core feature of the NRHM is Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a program which provides financial assistance to poor pregnant women for institutional delivery and post delivery care. Another important component of the NRHM is to provide improved access to health care at the community level through female village health workers known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). JSY was a product that replaced then existing centrally financed maternal health and nutritional support initiatives which provided cash payments to poor pregnant women. Together with considerable financing from other donors (DFID and UNFPA), the World Bank, supports the RCH II through an IDA credit. The RCH II program is the key vehicle under the umbrella of the flagship NRHM to address maternal and child health challenges in India. One of the key interventions under the RCH II program is the JSY, along with other evidence-based interventions on the demand and supply-side to address maternal and child mortality.
JSY is a demand and supply-side (‘mixed’) pay for performance (P4P) program that provides payments to individual community health workers and to women seeking a continuum of maternal and newborn health services. On the demand side, conditional cash payments are made out to pregnant women for institutional delivery in both government and private accredited hospitals. On the supply side, vouchers are given to community-level health workers on the condition that they identify eligible pregnant women and assist them to reach a health facility. Additionally, health workers must provide postnatal care visits, ensure that children receive a BCG vaccination, and provide mothers with family planning and counseling advice.