Abstract

The Government of India launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) mainly to strengthen health services in the rural areas. It seeks to provide effective health care to the rural population by improving access, enabling community ownership, strengthening public health systems, enhancing accountability and promoting decentralization (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare 2005). Under the NRHM, there is a specific scheme, the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which was introduced in April 2005. The main objective of JSY scheme is reducing Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) by encouraging institutional deliveries, particularly in Below Poverty Line families. The paper intends to study the impact of Janani Suraksha Yojana on institutional delivery and Infant Mortality rate. The results show that before implementation of JSY the rate of institutional delivery was less and IMR was high. But after the implementation of JSY the number of institutional deliveries has increased and infant mortality rate has reduced significantly. Finally, it can be concluded that NRHM launched by Government of India holds great hopes and promises to serve the deprived undeserved communities of rural areas. If Government improves the awareness on Janani Suraksha Yojana then there is no doubt that Karnataka can increase its institutional delivery and reduce infant mortality rate.

Keywords: Institutional Delivery, Infant Mortality Rate, Janani Suraksha Yojana and Karnataka.

Introduction

Every pregnant woman hopes for a healthy baby and an uncomplicated pregnancy. However, every day about 1500 women and adolescent girls die from problem related to pregnancy and childbirth. Every year, some 10 million women and adolescent girls experience complications during pregnancy, many of which leave them their children with infections and several disabilities (G.R Jayashree).

Pregnant women die in India due to a combination of important factors like, poverty, ineffective or unaffordable health services, lack of political, managerial and administrative will. All this culminates in a high proportion of home deliveries by unskilled relatives and delays in seeking care and this in turn adds to the maternal mortality ratios. The institutional delivery plays major role in reducing MMR and IMR. In India, while 77 percent of pregnant women receive some form of antenatal check-up, only 41 percent deliver in an institution. Even though all services are free only 13 percent of the lowest income quintile delivers in a hospital.

As per sample registration system 2005, IMR in India was 58 and institutional delivery was 38.7 whereas in Karnataka IMR was 50 per 1000 live births and institutional delivery was 60 (SRS 2001-2003 and NRHM Implementation Plan 2011-12).

In developing countries like India, the health care services are not equally distributed. The organizational structure requires a concern particularly with the maternal health. The Government of India has been implementing various programmes from time to time to tackle these issues. It launched the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme in 1997, which aimed at universalising immunization, ante-natal care and skilled attendance during delivery. Reduction of maternal mortality was an important goal of RCH-II that was launched in 2005. One of the main interventions was to provide emergency obstetric care at the first referral unit. Incentives were also given to staff to encourage round the clock obstetric services at health facilities (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare 2008).

Later in 2005, the Government of India launched the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) mainly to strengthen health services in the rural areas. It seeks to provide effective health care to the rural population by improving access, enabling community ownership, strengthening public health systems, enhancing accountability and promoting decentralization (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, 2005). Under the NRHM, there is a specific scheme – the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), which was introduced in April 2005. The main objectives of JSY scheme were reducing Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortalit