Reiterating the centre’s vision of ‘Cashless India’, Rajasthan health department is encouraging women to open bank accounts. Women visiting primary health centres (PHCs) will have to open bank account to get assured incentives under plethora of social schemes initiated by the Rajasthan government.
Rajasthan is the first state to start online payments of Janani Suraksha Yojana(JSY) and Shubhlaxmi scheme. JSY is aimed at encouraging institutional deliveries to prevent maternal and infant mortality.The facility of depositing incentives directly in the beneficiary account was already available in community health centres and higher centres including district hospitals.
While the state is presently gripped with phenomenal development and life-enriching schemes for the needy, now the health department has planned to extended the incentives to primary health centres too. For the purpose, the health department had developed a software called Ojas for depositing incentives directly into beneficiary accounts.
In August 2015, the Health Department launched facilities of depositing the amount directly into the beneficiary accounts for ensuring that the payment process is as seamless and transparent as possible. Before August, however, payment were being made through cheque.
E-facilities for payment of incentives will be launched in nearly about 2,319 PHCs in the state Earlier, the facility was only available in 662 community health centres, district hospitals, satellite hospitals and sub district hospitals in the state.
Launched four years ago, the ShubhLaxmi scheme was initiated with an aim to encourage girl child.
Under the ShubhLaxmi Yojana, more than 3 lakh women covered in it’s ambit were benefitted., who got Rs 67 crore deposited in their corresponding bank accounts.
The incentivisation under Rajlaxmi Yojana have also been made online. Under the scheme, 95,000 beneficiaries were benefitted as they received a total of Rs 23.5 crore in their respective bank accounts.
Officials said that 9.10 lakh pregnant women were benefitted from online payments under Janani Shishu Yojna. An amount of Rs.129 crore were deposited by the Health department into accounts of pregnant women.
“Rs 220 crore has already been deposited to beneficiary accounts under the new system in last 16 months,” health department officials said.
