Janani Suraksha Yojana

1.1 What does Janani Suraksha Yojana do?

Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) pays poor pregnant women a cash sum when they give birth in a health facility. The National Health Mission (NHM) calls it a safe motherhood intervention. Safe motherhood means care that keeps a woman safe in pregnancy, childbirth and the days after. That plain gloss is our own wording.

The NHM page gives the aim. JSY is meant to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor pregnant women.

• Maternal mortality means deaths of mothers linked to pregnancy and birth.
• Neonatal means newborn. PIB (2013) counts newborn deaths within four weeks of birth.
• Institutional delivery means a birth in a health facility, not at home.

1.2 When did it start, and under which mission?

The NHM says JSY was launched on 12 April 2005 by the Prime Minister. PIB (30 December 2008) gives the same date. It says JSY was launched under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Today the NHM page places it under the National Health Mission.

PIB (2008) also says the Reproductive and Child Health programme Phase II (RCH-II) began in 2005. It calls JSY the cornerstone of that programme.

1.3 Who pays for it, and where does it run?

• PIB (2008) says JSY is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme.
• The NHM page also calls it a centrally sponsored scheme. It says the scheme joins cash assistance with delivery and post-delivery care.
• PIB (2008) says it is being implemented in all States and Union Territories.

1.4 Is JSY a free-treatment scheme?

No. PIB (2024 and 2026) describes JSY as a demand promotion and conditional cash transfer scheme for promoting institutional delivery. Conditional means the money depends on a condition. The main condition is a delivery in a government or accredited private facility.

Demand promotion means encouraging families to ask for facility care. That reading is our own gloss.

A common slip is to think JSY pays a sick baby’s hospital bills. It does not. That is the job of a different scheme, covered in card 7.

2.1 How much cash does a mother get?

The NHM page lists the cash under two labels. A Low Performing State (LPS) is one with low institutional delivery rates. A High Performing State (HPS) is any other state. The amounts depend on the label and on rural or urban area.

PIB (31 July 2015) gives the same mother and ASHA amounts. The totals are the NHM page’s own sums. Amounts are as listed on those pages, so check for newer orders before quoting them.

2.2 What is the ASHA part of the package for?

The ASHA package has two parts, says the NHM page. In rural areas, Rs 600 is Rs 300 for the ANC component and Rs 300 for facilitating institutional delivery. In urban areas, Rs 400 is Rs 200 plus Rs 200.

ANC means antenatal care, the check-ups during pregnancy. PIB (2015) adds that ASHAs get performance-based incentives for promoting institutional delivery.

2.3 Can a woman who delivers at home get anything?

Yes, in one case. PIB (31 July 2015) says BPL pregnant women who prefer to deliver at home are entitled to Rs 500 per delivery. BPL means below the poverty line.

Read the date on each source. PIB (30 December 2008) put extra conditions on the same Rs 500. It said women aged 19 and above, up to two live births. The 2015 note says regardless of age and number of children.

2.4 Did JSY also help with caesarean costs?

PIB (2008) says the Yojana subsidised the cost of a caesarean section or of managing obstetric complications. The limit was Rs 1,500 per delivery. It applied to government institutions where government specialists were not in position.

That is a 2008 snapshot. We did not find a newer page that repeats the Rs 1,500 limit.

2.5 How is the money paid?

PIB (2015) says Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was rolled out in 43 districts from 1 January 2013 and in 78 districts from 1 July 2013. It adds that instructions were issued to extend it to all districts. Eligible women are entitled to get the benefit directly in their bank accounts.

2.6 What does one delivery look like in numbers?

Here is an example of our own, using only the NHM amounts. Imagine a woman in a rural area of Bihar, which the NHM lists as an LPS state. She delivers in a government health centre.

• Her mother’s package is Rs 1,400.
• Her ASHA’s package is Rs 600, split Rs 300 and Rs 300.
• The two together make Rs 2,000, as the NHM total column shows.

The same delivery in a rural HPS state would carry Rs 700 for the mother and Rs 600 for the ASHA.

3.1 Which states are Low Performing States?

The NHM page names ten states with low institutional delivery rates. PIB (2015) names the same ten.

• Uttar Pradesh
• Uttarakhand
• Bihar
• Jharkhand
• Madhya Pradesh
• Chhattisgarh
• Assam
• Rajasthan
• Odisha (written Orissa on the NHM page)
• Jammu and Kashmir

PIB (2015) says the remaining States and Union Territories are High Performing States. The live article named only Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Those four are part of this list of ten.

3.2 Who can claim in each type of state?

The NHM page sets the eligibility.

• LPS: all pregnant women delivering in government health centres, such as sub-centres, PHCs, CHCs, First Referral Units and general wards of district or state hospitals.
• HPS: all BPL, Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe women delivering in a government health centre.
• LPS and HPS: BPL, SC or ST women delivering in accredited private institutions.

PIB (2015) adds that eligible women get the cash irrespective of the age of the mother and the number of children.

3.3 Does a low-performing state mean a weak state?

No. The NHM page defines the label by one thing. These are states with low institutional delivery rates. The label says nothing about other measures. That caution is our own reading.

Notice one pattern in the NHM table. In both rural and urban rows, the LPS mother’s package is higher than the HPS one. That is our own observation from the table. The extra money sits where fewer women delivered in facilities.

4.1 Who is an ASHA?

ASHA stands for Accredited Social Health Activist. PIB (2015) calls ASHAs women health volunteers. The NHM page says the Yojana has identified the ASHA as an effective link between the government and pregnant women.

4.2 What does she actually do?

PIB (2008) describes her main role. She helps pregnant women use maternal care services. She also arranges referral transport.

Her pay is tied to results. The NHM table splits her package between the ANC component and facilitating institutional delivery.

4.3 How many ASHAs were paid under JSY?

PIB (31 July 2015) said about 9 lakh ASHA workers get performance-based incentives under JSY. One lakh is 100,000. So about nine hundred thousand ASHAs were meant. That is a 2015 figure, not a current count.

4.4 Is the ASHA the same as a nurse or midwife?

The sources we used do not say so. They describe the ASHA as a community volunteer with a link and facilitation role. Do not mix her up with the staff who conduct the delivery. That warning is our own reading.

5.1 How many women has it reached?

PIB (2008) said JSY had benefited more than one crore women. One crore is ten million. PIB (31 July 2015) gave a longer trend in a Parliament reply.

• 2005-06: 7.38 lakh beneficiaries.
• 2012-13: 1,06,57,091 beneficiaries (grand total).
• 2013-14: 1,06,48,487.
• 2014-15: 1,04,38,905, which PIB gives as 104.38 lakhs.

The same reply said nearly 87% of the 2014-15 beneficiaries belonged to rural areas.

5.2 What is the latest number we found?

PIB (27 December 2023) said 43.35 lakh beneficiaries received benefits in April to September 2023. It marked the data as provisional for FY 2023-24.

PIB (2023) also says JSY promotes institutional delivery among women with weak socio-economic status. It names Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and BPL households.

5.3 Are institutional deliveries the same as JSY beneficiaries?

No. PIB (13 March 2026) gives the national count of institutional deliveries from HMIS. That count covers every facility delivery in the country. JSY beneficiaries are only those who received the scheme’s benefit.

• FY 2022-23: 2,01,65,533 institutional deliveries.
• FY 2023-24: 1,97,99,153.
• FY 2024-25: 1,93,55,420.

The PIB headline says over 5.93 crore in the last three years. These are all facility deliveries, so do not read them as JSY payments.

6.1 What do the national surveys show?

A PIB note of 2 August 2022 compares two rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). Institutional births were 78.9% in NFHS-4 (2015-16). They were 88.6% in NFHS-5 (2019-21).

A PIB feature of 14 December 2022 gives rounded figures. It says institutional deliveries rose from 79 per cent in 2015-16 to 89 per cent in 2019-20.

6.2 What happened to maternal deaths?

MMR is the maternal mortality ratio. PIB gives it per lakh live births. PIB (30 November 2022) said it fell from 130 in 2014-16 to 97 in 2018-20.

PIB (13 March 2026) cites a Registrar General of India bulletin for 2021-23. It puts the MMR at 88 per lakh live births.

6.3 Can we say JSY caused the rise?

Not from these pages. The 2022 PIB feature credits a set of programmes. It names PMSMA, SUMAN and LaQshya. It mentions JSY only as a scheme that SUMAN was built on.

We did not find a page that measures JSY’s own share. So treat these as national trends, not as proof about JSY alone.

6.4 How big was the problem JSY set out to tackle?

PIB (24 May 2013) described the scale at that time.

• About 67,000 women died every year from pregnancy-related complications.
• About 13 lakh infants died within one year of birth.
• Of 9 lakh newborn deaths within four weeks, about 7 lakh came in the first week.

These are 2013 figures from a government note. Use them to see the scale, not as current counts.

7.1 What is JSSK?

Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) was launched on 1 June 2011. The NHM JSSK page and a PIB report of 15 March 2012 both say so. It gives free services, not cash.

7.2 What does JSSK give a pregnant woman?

The NHM JSSK page lists the free entitlements.

• Free and cashless delivery, including free caesarean section.
• Free drugs, consumables and diagnostics.
• Free diet during the stay and free blood.
• Exemption from user charges.
• Free transport from home, between facilities if referred, and drop back home after 48 hours.

7.3 Does JSSK cover the baby?

Yes, for sick babies. PIB (24 May 2013) says sick newborns are entitled till 30 days after birth. The NHM JSSK page says this was expanded to cover sick infants.

PIB (27 August 2013) puts the limit at one year of age. PIB (6 December 2024) and PIB (13 March 2026) both say sick infants up to one year of age have similar entitlements.

7.4 How do the two schemes fit together?

Read the second row as our summary of the NHM and PIB pages. The last row follows PIB (24 May 2013).

8.1 What does the Government say in 2024 and 2026?

Two Lok Sabha replies carry the same line on JSY. PIB notes of 6 December 2024 and 13 March 2026 both call it a demand promotion and conditional cash transfer scheme. Both place it among NHM programmes.

The March 2026 reply is about maternal mortality. It says the MMR is 88 per lakh live births, as per the 2021-23 bulletin of the Registrar General of India.

8.2 Did JSY give way to new schemes?

PIB (30 November 2022) says JSSK and JSY were modified and upgraded into initiatives like SUMAN. SUMAN stands for Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan. PIB (2026) says it gives assured, dignified, respectful and quality care at no cost.

The 2024 and 2026 replies still list JSY. So we do not say JSY has ended. We only report what the PIB pages say.

8.3 Where does PMSMA fit in?

The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) is a different programme. PIB (2026) says it gives pregnant women a free specialist check-up on the 9th day of every month. JSY pays cash for a facility delivery. PMSMA covers the check-up. Read our own lesson on PMSMA for the full story.

9.1 What did UPSC ask?

UPSC’s official key for Series A gives (b) Only two. The key gives no reasons.

Here is our own reading. Statements 2 and 3 match the NHM page’s aim closely. Statement 4 is the JSSK sick-infant entitlement, not JSY. Statement 1 names the State Health Departments, while the NHM calls JSY a safe motherhood intervention under the National Health Mission.

9.2 Which mix-ups does this topic invite?

• 2005 is JSY. 2011 is JSSK. Do not swap the years.
• JSY pays cash. JSSK gives free services. Sick infants up to one year sit with JSSK.
• LPS mothers get more. Rs 1,400 rural in LPS, Rs 700 rural in HPS.
• HPS cash is not for everyone. The NHM page limits it to BPL, SC and ST women in government centres.
• The ASHA is the link. Her package is part of the scheme, not the mother’s own cash.
• PMSMA is a check-up day. It is not the delivery cash.