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Friday, Mar 07, 2008
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Friday, Mar 07, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
TAMBARAM: The number of beneficiaries eligible for assistance under the Dr.Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme of the Department of Health and Family Welfare has dipped in the southern suburbs in the current year, compared to the previous year. While 3,344 women in St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union received the assistance during 2006-07, the number is just 961 as the current financial year comes to a close. Guidelines stipulated by the department on tightening norms for selecting the beneficiaries was the single most important factor behind the drop in the number, senior officials told The Hindu. The scheme was launched in 2006 and its objective was to give Rs.6,000 to each poor woman during pregnancy and the lactating period in order to increase their intake of nutritious food so that they give birth to healthy babies and avoid becoming anaemic themselves. And during 2006-07, the government distributed Rs.99.55 lakh through cheques to the 3,344 women. Officials said that if they had given Rs.6,000 to each of the 3,344 women, they would have distributed more than Rs.2 crore, but many pregnant women did not come back to the Primary Health Centres for post natal care and did not receive the subsequent assistance. A survey revealed that the women beneficiaries mostly gave the amount to their male relatives who in turn used it for repaying debts or other purposes, including household chores. That year, many beneficiaries belonged to salaried and middle class and yet managed to get the assistance. The survey prompted the government to tighten norms to ensure that only those women who belonged to families living Below the Poverty Line alone were eligible to receive the assistance. An inspection of the household by revenue staff and nurses made sure that women from families above BPL could not apply for the scheme. This had drastically brought down the number to 961 women from all the six municipalities, 11 town panchayats and 25 village panchayats in addition to St. Thomas Mount cum Pallavaram Cantonment Board within the jurisdiction of St. Thomas Mount Block of Saidapet Health Unit District, officials said. The amount disbursed to them so far was about Rs.11 lakh, they added. Earlier, the amount would be distributed during the seventh, eighth and ninth months of pregnancy and the first three months after delivery. Now, it is given in two instalments of Rs.3,000 each. A committee was formed in January and its task was to ensure that the amount disbursed to them under the welfare scheme was spent only on increasing the intake of nutritious food for the pregnant woman. The handing over of money to the women would resume in a fortnight, officials said adding there was a slight delay in the receipt of the sum from the government.
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