Cash transfer no substitute for last-mile public health 

A gang of UP govt insiders is believed to have used identities of at least three women, as a probe has revealed so far, to claim cash benefits of Centre’s maternal health scheme Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). The scamsters�reportedly claimed benefits for 52 deliveries and nine sterilisations in three years in the names of just three women. It’s possibly the tip of the iceberg.

All three told investigators that their village’s do-gooder had them open accounts, promising govt benefits. The women never operated these accounts. First the old question: how robust are annual audits of such schemes? Who’s checking where the money’s going? Digital transformation of India’s social welfare was meant to remove the middle-man. But abysmal tech literacy among those targetted has meant tech shops of data entry have become the new mediators. Digitisation shifted the welfare process from in-person to online application, removing a direct link between govt and beneficiary �easy hunting for scammers.

Second, the rash of schemes. Centre runs 12 schemes for maternal health as of 2024. Interventions, like JSY since 2005, have reduced India’s maternal mortality rate (number of maternal deaths per lakh live births) from 384 (2000) to 97 (2020) �but UP still bears 35% of India’s MMR burden. Clearly, ‘leakages�abound. Despite so many schemes, pregnant women in pre-poll Delhi were promised more cash transfers. The UP case begs the question: what’s more effective �public health last-mile delivery or cash transfers?

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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.

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