A cross-sectional study based on women benefi ciaries under the Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefi t Scheme in fi ve districts of Tamil Nadu shows that scheduled caste and landless women in the sample were disadvantaged in receiving benefi ts. Overall, only one-fourth of the women who delivered fi rst or second order births in the sample received monetary assistance under the scheme.

In recent years public-private partnerships have been offered as the miracle-cure that would help fix all the challenges to the health sector. Over the last decade, a number of ppps providing maternal health services have come into existence but few have been evaluated. This paper examines whether ppps with the for-profit private sector which provide maternal health services have contributed or are likely to contribute to making quality maternal health services accessible at affordable prices to the poor and marginalised sections of the population, as envisaged by policymakers.