Health Minister Etala Rajender today lauded the state government's KCR Kit and Amma Odi welfare programs.
Speaking at the Telangana Assembly during Question Hour, Health Minister Etala Rajender today lauded the state government's KCR Kit and Amma Odi welfare programs, which were started in 2017, for successfully bringing up the number of institutional deliveries.
"The welfare programs being implemented by our government for pregnant women have been yielding excellent results. Their implementation has resulted in a drastic increase in the number of institutional deliveries in the state. Further, they have encouraged women to choose to have normal deliveries over dangerous and expensive C-sections. 50% of the total deliveries performed by the doctors of government hospitals annually are normal deliveries. A total of 11,91,275 women have benefited from the KCR Kits being distributed by us so far. While 2,09,130 women benefited from the kits in 2016-17, 2,59,335 did so in 2018-19, and 2,77,383 did so in 2019-20. Last year alone, 2,87,844 women received the KCR Kits," he said.
The minister added that the government had spent Rs 246.38 crore on the scheme during 2017-18, Rs 273.83 crore during 2018-19, Rs 392.65 crore during 2019-20, and Rs 263.65 crore from 2020 to February 2021.
The discussion was sparked when some MLAs asked the state government to relax the rules for pregnant women applying for the scheme. They demanded that the women not be asked to confirm their pregnancies within 12 weeks as women were unable to do so due to so in many cases since they had irregular menstrual cycles to begin with. Further, one MLA pointed out that tribal women who did not always have the facilities required to detect pregnancies within the stipulated 12-week time period were missing out on the benefits of the program.
The KCR Kits are given to new mothers with items that help them keep their infants warm and hygienic. The supplies last for three months. Further, monetary help is also extended to the mothers in four instalments under the scheme - Rs 13,000 to mothers of girls, and Rs 12,000 to the mothers of boy children. Since the kits are given to women who give birth in government hospitals, their availability has reportedly done much to push up the number of institutional deliveries in the state.
Each kit contains a baby mattress, baby soap, oil, talcum powder, mosquito net, toys, napkins, diapers, two pairs of clothes, and two sarees for the mother.