Factors influencing Janani Suraksha Yojana utilization in a Northern city of India

Abstract

Background: Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) was launched by Government of India with an objective of increasing institutional delivery. After years of operationalization in the Union territory of Chandigarh, no studies have documented the extent of its utilization and in-turn, effectiveness of its implementation. The aim and objectives of the study was to ascertain the extent of utilization of JSY scheme and to explore the factors influencing its uptake.Methods: It was a community based cross-sectional mixed method concurrent study conducted from August 2012 to March 2014 in Chandigarh city. A total of 100 women residing in the catchment areas of primary and secondary level health care facilities of Chandigarh who gave birth in proceeding two years (2011 and 2012) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and in-depth interview checklist by trained field investigators. Data analysis was done using SPSS software for windows (version 17).Results: A total of 100 mothers were approached out of which 94 delivered in institution and 34 received JSY benefit. Logistic regression model suggested that more than 3 ANC visits by women was significantly associated with the uptake of JSY benefit (OR= 17.4). The factors influencing decreased uptake of scheme were sub-optimal incentive, delayed payment, problem in arranging for a residence proof and lot of administrative paper work.Conclusions: Though the JSY scheme led to high rate of institutional delivery but the monetary incentive was not availed by most of the beneficiaries. There is a need to remove the bottlenecks and thus ensure smooth delivery of cash benefits.

Qualitative lens to assessing the ground level implementation of conditional cash transfer scheme in India

“…9 Difficulty in arranging documents has also been the key issue in West Bengal as reported in his study by Santra et al 17 Residents of Chandigarh added another issue to this list of problems which was the low amount of benefit in the scheme which was demotivating while accessing it. 18 This issue was also reported in a qualitative multi-centric study from three states (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand) in India. 19 In the current scenario of inflation and rising price of essential commodities, the monetary incentive seems low from the perspectives of poor population residing in urban areas.…”

Exploring the Bottlenecks: An Assessment of the Implementation Process of Janani Suraksha Yojana in the State of West Bengal, India

“…But the study in Chandigarh revealed dissatisfaction among the beneficiaries that JSY needed too much paper work and it would have been better if money could be disbursed before delivery. 27 We found gross variety in terms of the concerned person disbursing cash. It seemed, whoever was found capable of handling money had been entrusted with doing so.…”

“…Shortage of dedicated, skilled staff to handle the record, with or without computers, has been documented and it is expected that once they are placed in proper positions; things would improve. 27,33 As reported, information about the scheme was fairly extensive in the districts surveyed. It was communicated where the beneficiaries were possibly contacted, both through inter-personal conversation as well as through various mass approaches.…”

“…Moreover, the recent linking of AADHAR with JSY cash disbursement has increased the technical complexities of the programme. 27 In Karnataka majority of disbursement was through Centralized Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPFMS), which resulted in most of the women getting money after three to four months. 29 They indict the complexities of this software-based system behind this delay; which has increased ever since.…”

“…However, all these findings revealed that smooth flow of fund was a challenge, not only in West Bengal, but in the entire country, like delay in releasing funds from the Government was found in Chandigarh as well. 27 Impropriety in maintaining records has been a major challenge in most of public health activities. 32 Concern about the deplorable state of record keeping was found in Madhya Pradesh as well.…”