Swaraj: Gender support

New Delhi, Jan. 13: Union health minister Sushma Swaraj today announced the launch of the Vande Mataram scheme in partnership with private gynaecologists to provide safe maternity services. This ambitious scheme is being rolled out to arrest the spiralling maternal mortality rate in the country.

“From now on, private gynaecologists will provide ante-natal check ups free of cost for pregnant women who come to their respective clinics on the 9th of every month,” Swaraj said at a news conference today. “This is the first step towards public-private partnership in this field.”

At present, every third mother fails to have check-ups during pregnancy — this is one of the chief causes of the high maternal mortality rate. The Centre has a number of schemes on paper to reduce these deaths, but has not managed to do so.

Under the Vande Mataram scheme, the government will provide medicines and contraceptives but no honorarium to private gynaecologists who enrol for the scheme.

It will also provide Vande Mataram cards to the gynaecologists, 4,000 of whom have enrolled for the scheme.

The timing of the scheme has led to murmurs, but Swaraj said there was no electoral motive behind the scheme. Even so, the BJP is hoping that the scheme would fetch some support among women voters.

The BJP is in gender-friendly mode, having recently appointed women chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

“This scheme has nothing to do with elections. It was planned long before the announcements were made,” the minister said.

Nearly a year ago, the Centre had announced the launch of a Janani Suraksha Yojana, aimed at increasing the number of institutional deliveries. The yojana announced a cash award for every woman delivering a child at a medical institution and not at home. Rs 500 was to be awarded to any woman delivering a son and Rs 1,000 for a daughter.

But the scheme failed to take off because of the financial implications. The Centre has now come up with another scheme along the same lines.

Swaraj said the new scheme would make a difference, adding that the response from the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of India had been enthusiastic.

Even so, some unscrupulous gynaecologists and radiologists have managed to keep female foeticide going.