Money can make people do all sorts of things. For example, some people wear funny clothes and put on a skit for money, some beg, in front of temples and roads and some, get pregnant. No, I am not talking about surrogate mothers here. I am talking about the ones who fake pregnancy to avail the government benefits.
As per the Janani Suraksha Yojna launched by the Indian government in the year 2005, pregnant women who fall below the poverty line are entitled to receive Rs 1400 by the government to enable them to eat nutritious food after the child is delivered. The scheme was introduced to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality (death of mother or child) by encouraging institutional delivery.
However, in many villages across Uttar Pradesh this facility is being misused by the villagers and some of the employees of the Public Health Center (PHC) for the sake of money. Fake pregnancies are being claimed to avail of the scheme. A woman, for instance, was declared pregnant three times in four months to use the benefits under the scheme. Another woman who had not conceived in 12 years was paid Rs 1400 by the health department for better care of the mother and the child. To top it all, another woman in Bahraich, a 60-year-old, was declared pregnant five times in 10 months.
In one of the cases, a woman from Barahi village was given the Rs 1400 honorarium after she claimed to have delivered a baby on August 24, 2011. However, it was later discovered that the last time she had delivered a child was 12 years ago.
In another instance in Badaun village, a woman claimed to be pregnant for three times in the span of four months. When she started coming to deposit the money in the bank frequently, the bank officials got suspicious and informed the PHC about the same. Thereafter, an inquiry was conducted and the plethora of such cases rolled out in the results.
Officials responsible for systematic implementation of the scheme are now being questioned to unveil the discrepancies. A large pan UP health scam is also being suspected where the PHC employees would make fictitious transfers of Rs 1400 to gullible village women, give them a stingy cut and keep the rest of the money for themselves.
Across UP, more than 250 such cases have been found out and five employees have been suspended so far. Additional director Dr. Subodh Sharma of the health department of the state government said, “I have inspected records at the public and community health centers and am waiting for a report from bank authorities. Once I receive that, action will be taken against the guilty. It is unfortunate that this scheme is being misused.”
If only such corrupt exploitation of government resources could be curbed, there could be ample available for the one who genuinely need it.