Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) Yojana

What is Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)?

Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, launched in October 2019, to assure dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost, and with zero tolerance for denial of services; to every woman and newborn accessing a public health facility. SUMAN is not a cash scheme. It is a guarantee that brings together the free maternal and child health entitlements that already exist across government programmes and commits the health system to deliver them without any out-of-pocket expense.

According to the Ministry of Health, the goal is to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths by ensuring that a pregnant woman gets the full package of assured services: before, during and after childbirth, and that no one is turned away or charged for care that should be free.

Core promise

• Assured, free and quality maternal and newborn services.
• Zero expense to the beneficiary for the notified services.
• Zero tolerance for denial of services at the facility.

What services does SUMAN assure?

According to the SUMAN framework, the assured free services include:

• At least four antenatal check-ups, one check-up under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, and six home-based newborn care visits.
• Iron-folic acid supplementation, tetanus-diphtheria injection and other routine antenatal care.
• Free and zero-expense institutional delivery, including caesarean section, with free drugs, diagnostics, diet and blood as required.
• Free transport; from home to the facility, referral between facilities, and drop-back home after delivery.
• Free treatment of sick newborns, including care of sick newborns and infants up to 30 days at public facilities.
• Early initiation and support for breastfeeding.
• Identification and management of high-risk pregnancies, with tracking and follow up.
• Respectful care with privacy and dignity, and a facility-level grievance mechanism.

Coverage runs through pregnancy, delivery and up to six months after delivery for the mother, and covers the newborn as described above.

Who is eligible for SUMAN?

Covered:

• Every pregnant woman accessing a public health facility.
• Every mother up to six months after delivery.
• Every sick newborn accessing a public health facility.

SUMAN is universal within the public health system. There is no income ceiling, no Below Poverty Line requirement, no caste or community condition, and no registration fee. Entitlement follows from being a pregnant woman, a recent mother or a newborn who comes to a designated government facility.

Where SUMAN does not apply:

• SUMAN is a public-health guarantee. It does not reimburse care taken at a private hospital of your own choice, and there is no cash payout to claim, so a person seeking a cash benefit or private-hospital reimbursement is not eligible under SUMAN. Financial support for institutional delivery is instead delivered through linked schemes such as Janani Suraksha Yojana and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, whose entitlements SUMAN brings together.

What documents are needed for SUMAN?

SUMAN is designed to be document-light so that care is never delayed. The Mother and Child Protection (MCP) card issued at antenatal registration helps the health worker track your check-ups and entitlements, and a government ID such as Aadhaar assists registration. But the "no denial" principle means services cannot be refused for want of a document.

How to apply for and access SUMAN services

1. Register your pregnancy early at the nearest public health facility — sub-centre, primary health centre, community health centre or district hospital; through the ASHA or ANM worker. You will receive an MCP card.
2. Attend the assured antenatal check-ups. Ask the ANM or medical officer for the SUMAN package. The four antenatal visits, the PMSMA check-up, IFA tablets and the TD injection: all free.
3. Use free referral transport (102/108) when it is time to travel to the facility for delivery.
4. Deliver at the public facility, where delivery, including caesarean, medicines, diagnostics and diet are free, with drop-back home afterwards.
5. Bring your newborn for care if the baby is sick; treatment of sick newborns up to 30 days is free at the facility.
6. If any assured service is refused or charged for, use the facility's grievance mechanism or call the national health helpline 104.

Because SUMAN is an assurance rather than an enrolment scheme, there is no form to fill and no waiting for approval, you access the services directly.

Help and grievance redressal

• National health helpline: 104
• Facility grievance mechanism: every SUMAN facility is expected to display a grievance channel and a citizens' charter of assured services.
• State maternal health helplines run in many states for referral and complaints.

SUMAN's guarantee is that these maternal and newborn services stay free. No public facility should charge you for a notified assured service, and no beneficiary should be turned away.