Govt scraps Mata Kaushalaya scheme

Claims doing enough for expectant mothers; no money for pending cases

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, July 8

The cash-strapped state government has scrapped its Mata Kaushalaya Kalyan Yojana, which was started in 2011 to promote institutional deliveries in government hospitals.

Under the scheme, the government provided Rs1,000 to women after delivery for nutritious and balanced diet. The scheme was lying suspended as no beneficiary was given the promised amount for almost a year.

In Muktsar district, funds were released up to June last year and thereafter not even a single woman was given the monetary benefit.

Dr Bhag Mal, Director, Health and Family Welfare Department, said: “This scheme was lying suspended for a year since we did not get any funds for this period."

Surjit Jyani, Health Minister, said: “The Mata Kaushalaya Kalyan Yojana has been scrapped. No woman will now be given the monetary benefit even in pending cases.”

Jyani said: “The government is providing adequate facilities to expectant mothers, including free transportation to hospitals and return to their houses. Further, medicines and institutional deliveries are free of cost. ASHA workers have too been deployed to facilitate pregnant women.”

Satpal Gosain, then health minister in the SAD-BJP government, had started this scheme in 2011. It was launched to promote institutional deliveries in public hospitals to curb maternal and infant mortality rate.

As per the state government’s mother and child health action plan, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is 172 per one lakh births. The aim is to bring MMR down to 78 by 2017. Similarly, the infant mortality rate (IMR) is 28 per 1,000 live births, which is aimed to reduce to 16 by 2017.

Data collected from the Health Management Information System (HMIS) showed that there were 1,25,510 non-institutional deliveries in the state in 2010-11; 92,993 in 2011-12; 71,047 in 2012-13 and 17,055 in 2013-14 (up to July).

Courtesy: The Tribune