The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a centrally sponsored scheme which is being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.
Under the JSY, eligible pregnant women are entitled to cash assistance irrespective of the age of mother and number of children for giving birth in a government or accredited private health facility.
The scheme focuses on a poor pregnant woman with a special dispensation for states that have low institutional delivery rates, namely, the states of UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir.
While these States have been named Low Performing States (LPS) under the scheme, the remaining States/UTs have been named High Performing States (HPS).
The scheme also provides performance-based incentives to women health volunteers known as ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) for promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.