The Jharkhand government has geared up to reward Below Poverty line (BPl) families following the norms of Family Planning. The plan felicitating cash awards is a scheme named Prerna strategy under National Population Stabilization Fund also known as Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh (JSK) ensuring proper family planning steps.
Prerna strategy recognizes and awards couples who have broken the stereotype of early marriage, early childbirth and repeated child birth and have helped change the mindsets of the community.
In order to become eligible for award under the scheme, the girl should have married after 19 years of age and given birth to the first child after atleast two years of marriage. The couple will get an award of Rs 10,000 if it is a boy child or Rs 12,000 if it is a girl child. If birth of the second child takes place after atleast three years of birth of first child and either parent voluntarily accept permanent method of family planning within one year of the birth of second child, the couple will get an additional award of Rs 5,000 for boy child and Rs 7,000 for girl child.
It is valid for women delivering baby upto the age of 30 years. Meanwhile, another scheme of JSK named Santushti scheme, an accredited private Nursing Home or Hospital can sign a MoU with JSK and is entitled for incentive, whenever it conducts 10 or more Tubectomy or Vasectomy in a month.
JSK is meant for seven highly populated states of India including Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. A meeting of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare officials with Jharkhand Rural Health Mission Samiti and NGO members was held over the matter at Indian Institute of Public Health, Namkom on Tuesday.
Feeling the need of the programme’s implementation at the grassroot level, National Health Mission State Director Ashish Singhmar said, “Government money is something which we cannot fritter away.” Members at the meeting said claimed the scheme will help in reducing Total Fertility Rate of the state.