Publication:

Study on awareness and knowledge regarding Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) among ANC registered women in a primary health centre of tribal area of Thane District of Maharashtra

Background In an attempt to make primary health care services available, especially, to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of rural & tribal society, JSY forms a crucial component of the NRHM. JSY is a safe motherhood intervention initiated to reduce maternal and neo-natal mortality and increasing institutional deliveries in them.

Objective 1) To assess awareness about Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) among ANC registered women. 2) To establish association of socio-demographic factors with awareness about Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY).

Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in Primary Health Centre, Khardi of Thane district of Maharashtra during the period of Oct. 2010. A total of 110 ANC registered women were interviewed using pre-designed questionnaire. Results were analyzed by using SPSS version-15. Chi-square test was applied and p < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results More than half of the women (52.7%) were aware about this governmental scheme & only 17.24% of them were able to answer the correct name of the scheme. They obtained this knowledge mainly from the ANMs (58.6%), AWWs (22.4%) and ASHAs (17.2%). About 54.5% women had the knowledge about the components of JSY. Poor socioeconomic class, backward caste (SC/ST) & skilled/unskilled type of occupation were found to be significantly associated with the presence of knowledge about JSY.

Conclusion As the awareness and knowledge in our study group was less compared to other studies, there is a need to intensify the efforts to increase awareness and knowledge about JSY.