Burden of Early Pregnancy and Reach of Cash Incentive Scheme for Promoting Institutional Delivery in India

The burdenof early pregnancy and high out-of-pocket costs necessitate the use ofinstitutional care, qualified medical staff, and financial incentives to boostthe quality of maternal health services. In response, the Indian governmentintroduced the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) scheme in2005, which offers cashtransfers to underprivileged women using public health facilities for childdelivery. Using the data from the National Family Health Survey-5 and theReport of the Technical Group Population Projection, 2020, this study attemptsto determine the reach and utilization of financial benefits under the JSYscheme among adolescent women (15-18 years) who become mothers at an early age,endangering both their own and the lives of their newborn children. The paperhighlights that age, education, caste, religion, place of residence of themother and economic condition of the household are the key determinants forutilisation of the JSY scheme in India. The results show that 82% of women arenot benefiting from the financial incentives offered by the JSY scheme. Theestimated data suggests the exclusion of nearly 1.4 million women from thescheme benefit every year. Moreover, high medical costs incurred by familieshighlight the large disparity between the availability of financial schemes forinstitutional delivery and their utilisation. This calls for amendments in theJSY scheme document to ensure safe institutional delivery for these high-risk youngmothers and their newborns while simultaneously reducing out-of-pocket expenses.