Janani Sahayogi Yojana

What is Janani Sahayogi Yojana?

Janani Sahayogi Yojana is a maternal and newborn health scheme of the Public Health and Family Welfare Department of Madhya Pradesh. According to the state government's official scheme record, the scheme provides safe-motherhood and child health services free of cost to pregnant women and children of families living below the poverty line, at government hospitals and at accredited private hospitals.

The services named in the state record are normal delivery, caesarean section, abortion and newborn care. The record also states that the benefit of the Janani Suraksha Yojana can additionally be obtained, which matters in practice. The free treatment and the cash incentive for institutional delivery are two separate things and a BPL woman is entitled to both.

The scheme's distinguishing idea is the word sahayogi, meaning partner. Where Janani Suraksha Yojana pays a woman to deliver in an institution and Janani Express carries her there, Janani Sahayogi Yojana brings private obstetric hospitals into the public system, with the state paying for the delivery. In districts where the government facility was distant or the specialist post was vacant, this was the mechanism intended to give a poor woman access to a caesarean without paying for it.

Published health-systems research on Madhya Pradesh describes exactly this arrangement, the government invited private obstetric hospitals into partnership to provide intrapartum care to poor women, paid for by the state, with the partnership most active in the period from 2006 to 2012. The scheme nevertheless continues to appear in the Madhya Pradesh government's scheme register maintained on the CM Helpline portal, with the record last updated on 31 July 2024.

Who is eligible for Janani Sahayogi Yojana?

You can use the scheme if:

• You are a pregnant woman in Madhya Pradesh from a family registered in the Below Poverty Line list. The state record makes BPL registration compulsory in plain words.
• You hold and can present a blue, yellow or Antyodaya treatment scheme health card. The record specifies that one of these cards must be produced.
• You are seeking care at a government hospital or an accredited private hospital in the state.
• You live in a rural or urban area, the record classifies the scheme's area as both.

The beneficiary type is recorded as "गर्भवती महिला", pregnant woman, and newborn children are covered for post-natal care.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• Your family is not on the BPL list. This is the hard cut-off, and no income declaration substitutes for the listing.
• You cannot produce a blue, yellow or Antyodaya health card. Families should get the card corrected or reissued through the local body well before the expected delivery date rather than at the labour room door.
• You want treatment at a private hospital that is not accredited under the scheme. The state pays only its empanelled partners.
• You are seeking a non-maternity procedure. The scheme's scope is delivery, caesarean, abortion and newborn care.

What does the scheme cover, and what does it cost?

The scheme carries no application fee and the eligible family pays nothing for the covered services. Where a hospital asks for money for a covered procedure, that is a grievance, not a legitimate charge.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Janani Sahayogi Yojana

1. Confirm the BPL listing and the health card. Check that the family's name is in the Below Poverty Line list and that the blue, yellow or Antyodaya treatment scheme card is in hand and legible. Both are compulsory, and both are much easier to fix in the second trimester than on the day of delivery.
2. Register the pregnancy with the ASHA worker or ANM at the sub-centre so that the antenatal record exists and the delivery point is planned.
3. Ask the Block Medical Officer or the District Health Office which hospitals are accredited under the scheme in your district. This is the single most important step, because the free-treatment guarantee only extends to government facilities and accredited private hospitals.
4. Go to the chosen hospital when labour begins, using Janani Express transport if needed, and present the BPL health card at admission. There is no separate application form. The state record describes the benefit as given "आवेदन के अभाव में", in the absence of an application.
5. Take the delivery, caesarean, abortion or newborn care free of charge. Do not pay for a covered service.
6. Complete the Janani Suraksha Yojana claim before discharge, giving the bank account details, so the institutional-delivery cash incentive is also received.

How does it fit with the other maternity schemes?

Madhya Pradesh runs four schemes with overlapping names, and confusing them costs families money:

• Janani Sahayogi Yojana — free delivery and newborn care for BPL families, at government and accredited private hospitals.
• Janani Suraksha Yojana. A cash incentive for delivering in an institution.
• Janani Express Yojana. The free vehicle that takes the woman to the institution.
• Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram; free drugs, diagnostics, diet and drop-back at government facilities.

All four are listed separately in the state's own scheme register under the Public Health department, and one pregnancy can draw on more than one.

Common problems and how to fix them

• Name missing from the BPL list. Addition to the BPL list is handled by the gram panchayat in rural areas and the urban local body in cities; in Madhya Pradesh this is itself a notified public service.
• Damaged or missing health card. The blue, yellow or Antyodaya card is reissued by the local body. Get it done before the eighth month.
• Hospital says the scheme is not active. Ask specifically whether the hospital is currently accredited under Janani Sahayogi Yojana. If it is not, the government district hospital or civil hospital remains available, where the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram already guarantees free delivery, drugs and diagnostics regardless of BPL status.
• Being asked to pay for a covered service. Refuse, and report it.

Where to complain

• CM Helpline: 181: Madhya Pradesh maintains Janani Sahayogi Yojana in its CM Helpline scheme register, so a complaint about the scheme can be lodged and tracked on this number.
• Block Medical Officer, for problems at a block-level facility.
• Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) of the district, for problems with an accredited private hospital or a district hospital.
• National Health Mission, Madhya Pradesh, which implements the state's maternal health programmes through nhmmp.gov.in.

Janani Sahayogi Yojana is free at the point of use. No agent, dalal or hospital staff member may charge a BPL family for a service the state has already paid for.