March 18, 2025
Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale’s supplementaries to his starred question on plans by the government, under the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, to provide allowances to women for hot meals in areas too remote for the government to access and reimbursement for ultrasound procedures on women in such areas
Sir, firstly, I would like to commend the hon. Minister for greatly reducing our maternal and infant mortality rates. I would, definitely, like to congratulate the Ministry for that. Sir, in the answer that is given, it is true that the Government does provide hot meals under the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram. The thing is that these are provided in the main, general health centers and the ones which are accessible. But the problem is in the peripheral health centers. In a number of States, allowance is given for, maybe, milk and biscuits, and that has been the tradition. But it is not possible to provide them the hot meals. So, in that particular area, I want to ask the hon. Minister whether there is any plan by the Ministry to provide allowance or maybe extend it in places where hot meals cannot be provided to women. Sir, unfortunately, my question was not answered because I said there are peripheral health centers where it is not possible for the Government to provide hot meals. What do we do in areas like those? But, nevertheless, the other issue that people are facing is again in peripheral areas. A lot of times, there is a shortage of ambulances and they cannot reach. So, they have to take referral transport. Or, in a lot of peripheral health areas, advanced ultrasound facilities are not available. So, these are the areas where out of pocket expenses do happen. I mean, the Government does not reimburse, but women do end up paying from their pockets. So, I am talking specifically about these remote areas, be it in terms of diet or be it terms of ultrasound. Is the Government considering providing reimbursement in areas where the Government is not able to, for logistical reasons, provide those services? Thank you.
