ontext: The Government of India had launched Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), in the year 2005, as a safe motherhood intervention to reduce maternal and infant mortality rate through better provision and utilisation of Mother and Child Health (MCH) services. Though the scheme was promising enough, its implementation and utilisation were not uniformly implemented across the country due to lack of awareness of the common people, accessibility of the health services and availability of funds.
Aims: The present study was conducted to evaluate the operational mechanism of JSY and to assess the quality of services and perception of mothers regarding it.

Settings and Design: This was a rapid appraisal study conducted in four sub-centres, selected purposively, from two rural blocks of Haryana, a province of North India. The study design adopted was cross sectional.

Methods and Material: All the beneficiaries who received the benefits from 1.4.2009 to 31.3.2010 were enrolled in the study. The data were collected from beneficiaries regarding various aspects of JSY, using semi-structured schedule by carrying in-depth interviews, conducting house-to-house survey. Multi-purpose health workers - female (MPHW-F) of the sub-centres, accredited social health activist (ASHA) serving in the area and the concerned Medical Officer of the primary health centre (PHC) were also interviewed regarding implementation of JSY.

Results: Most of beneficiaries belonged to below poverty line (BPL) as well as schedule caste categories. Less than 15% of the beneficiaries received payment within one month. More than 80% of the beneficiaries got = 2 ante-natal checkups, while post-natal checkups were received by less than 10%. More than two-third of the deliveries were still conducted at home.

Conclusion: More stress should be laid on the implementation of JSY in terms of place of delivery, provision of postnatal care and timely release of the monetary grants, so that the targeted objectives of this strategy can be achieved in a timely manner.