In the Eleventh Five Year Plan document the Planning Commission had noted that: Poor women continue

e to work to earn a living for the family right upto the last days of their pregnancy. This does not allow them to gain weight They resume working soon after childbirth. This prevents their bodies from fully recovering As they are out working, they are unable to exclusively breastfeed their new born in the first six months Therefore, there is urgent need for introducing a modest maternity benefit to partly compensate for their wage loss

 In

India, there are high levels of undernutrition and anaemia in married adolescent girls and women (56%) This is made worse due to early marriage, early child bearing and inadequate spacing between births. Data shows that 63% of lactating women and 59% of pregnant women suffer from anemia Exclusive breast feeding for six months can reduce infant mortality rates - studies have shown that 16% of under 5 years child mortality can reduce when children are breastfed exclusively for 6 months

 ANC

coverage and child immunization rates are also low Thus in the light of all the above, the Govt. felt that there is a need to tackle the nutritional deficits of the pregnant and lactating mother by: providing a direct cash transfer if women met certain conditionalities providing maternal support, counselling, maternal and child health services Thus the Govt. introduced the IGMSY scheme

To improve the health and nutrition status of pregnant & lactating women and infants by: Promoting appropriate practices, care and service utilisation during pregnancy, safe delivery and lactation Encouraging the women to follow (optimal) IYCF practices including early and exclusive breast feeding for the first six months Contributing to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and lactating mothers

 Pregnant

women who are 19 years of age and above for first two live births

All

government /PSU/SPSU excluded from the scheme

employees

are

In

its pilot phase the IGMSY scheme is being rolled out in selected 52 districts

Cash Transfer First Installment (at the end of second trimester)

Conditions

Amount in Rs

Means of Verification Mother & Child Protection Card (MCP Card)

Registration of 1,500 Pregnancy at AWC / health centres within 4 months of pregnancy At least one ANC with IFA tablets and TT Attended at least one counselling session at AWC / VHND

Cash Transfer 3 months after delivery

Conditions

Amount in Rs

Means of Verification Mother & Child Protection Card Immunization Register Growth Monitoring Chart

Registration of child 1500 birth The child has received: OPV ,BCG at birth and DPT at 6 & 10 weeks Attended at least 2 growth monitoring and IYCF counselling sessions within 3 months of delivery.

Cash Transfer 6 months after delivery

Conditions Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months & introduction of complimentary feeding The child has received OPV and DPT at 14 weeks Attended at least 2 growth monitoring and IYCF counselling sessions between 3rd and 6th months of delivery

Amount in Rs 1,000

Means of Verification Self certification Mother & Child Protection Card, Immunization Register Growth Monitoring Chart and

 Miscarriages:

If the beneficiary fulfils the conditions for the 1st installment, but miscarries she is entitled to 1st installment on producing proper documentation Still Births: Will be eligible for the 2nd installment subject to attending 2 counseling sessions for her own health and well being If baby dies between 3 6 months: If the beneficiary fulfills the conditions for the 2nd installment, she will be given the 2nd installment upon producing proper documentation to ensure it was not a case of female infanticide.

Twins: If the beneficiary on her first delivery gives birth to live twins she can avail the benefit of the Scheme only once
If

the beneficiary has one child and then in second delivery gives birth to twins she can avail the benefit of the Scheme for the second time (even though there are now 3 children)

 Exclusionary

Criteria: Those from the most vulnerable sections of society would find it most difficult to satisfy the eligibility criteria and would therefore be left out. Thus 59% women having any one of the vulnerabilities in terms of caste, class or education will get left out. Of these 56% SC/ST, 63% poor and 63% uneducated women will fall out of the preview of this scheme (Lingam and Yelamanchili)

 Women

who work in the formal /organized sector (around 5% of the entire female workforce in India) are provided full pay for three to six months with no conditions However, the millions of women working in the unorganized/informal sector will be compelled to fulfil good behaviour conditions before they are eligible for their maternity benefit And to make matters worse this is not counted in terms of wage-loss compensation for any significant period.

 The

scheme also overlooks the existence of gender inequality which is augmented by the strong patriarchal system. It also fails to acknowledge that this gender inequality contributes to malnutrition of women due to the existence of gender differentials in distribution of resources. These exclusionary criteria may thus worsen the situation of malnutrition in the already vulnerable population.

 Women

will not be able to control the facilitating environment (health service conditions) that enables them to fulfill these conditions, so they may end up excluded from the scheme for no fault of theirs By attaching conditionalities which are linked to supply factors, the scheme ignores the fact that often the supply side does always function to its optimum, and thereby penalizes women for no fault of theirs

 Maternity

entitlements should be available to all women, without any conditionality. The entitlement should be equal to wages lost for rest and breast-feeding Women have the right to support for childcare especially for exclusive breastfeeding while at work. There is urgent need for workplace initiatives for supporting women with infants and young children (less than 2 years) through provision of crches.

 Increase

AWW and ANM services on priority basis to ensure pregnancy care and nutrition Strengthen existing health systems to provide comprehensive maternity care Put in place an accessible grievance redress mechanism which poor women can easily use; with a report on prompt action taken.