BAREILLY: An audit of beneficiaries of the Janani Suraksha Yojna in Uttar Pradesh, which primarily guarantees through a small dole better food for new mothers in the days just after the delivery of their babies, has thrown up some startling "facts".

A woman, for instance, was declared pregnant three times in four months to avail benefits under the scheme. Another woman who had not conceived in 12 years was paid Rs 1,400 as honorarium by the health department. Yet another woman in Bahraich, a 60-year-old, gots pregnant "five times in 10 months".

Officials responsible for implementation of the scheme are now being probed and an inquiry is on to unravel the discrepancies. Authorities said they are looking at a "large pan-UP scam" in which PHC (primary health centre) employees would make fictitious transfers of Rs 1400 to gullible village women, give them a meagre cut and keep the rest for themselves. In the Baundi PHC alone, 200 such cases have been found. Five employees have been suspended and the district magistrate has ordered a probe.

Across, in Badaun, when Asha Devi claimed benefits accorded to pregnant women three times in a span of four months, officials at the bank where she came to deposit the cheques grew suspicious and informed the health department. An inquiry was conducted and many more such instances tumbled out.

Asha Devi had received Rs 1,400 under the scheme after she gave birth on February 28 this year. She claimed a similar amount in March, saying she had a baby that month. She then said she delivered on May 20, too, and sought the allowance meant for mothers like her.

The case of Rajeshwari Devi of Barahi village of Samrer block was equally shocking. Given the Rs 1,400 honorarium after she claimed to have delivered a baby on August 24, 2011, it emerged later that the last time she had delivered a child was 12 years ago.

The Janani Suraksha Yojna was introduced in 2005 for the benefit of poor pregnant women. The aim of the scheme was to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by encouraging institutional delivery.

Additional director Dr Subodh Sharma of the health department of the state government said, "I have inspected records at the public and community health centres and am waiting for a report from bank authorities. Once I receive that, action will be taken against the guilty. A woman is given Rs Rs 1,400 by the government under the scheme to encourage her to eat nutritious food soon after she delivers a child at a government hospital. That would safeguard her health and that of the new-born baby. It is unfortunate that this scheme is being misused."