News: A survey has claimed that the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) only reached 49% of its targeted beneficiaries between 1 April 2018 and 31 July 2019.
Key highlights from the Survey:
- Eligibility: The study found that only 50% of pregnant women and 57% of nursing women surveyed were eligible for the scheme.
- Awareness: Only 66% of pregnant women and 69% of nursing women knew about the scheme.
- Impeding factors: Several factors impeded proper implementation of the programme. These include: an application form of about 23 pages, requirement of large number of documents such as mother-child protection card, Aadhaar card, husband’s Aadhaar card and bank passbook aside from linking their bank accounts with Aadhaar.
- Special needs of pregnancy: The survey highlighted the need to pay greater attention to the special needs of pregnancy — good food, extra rest and health care.
- Best Practice: Odisha doesn’t implement PMMVY and has its own state sponsored scheme called ‘Mamata’. The scheme includes two births. According to the survey, 95% of pregnant women and 89% of nursing mothers had been enrolled, the level of awareness was more than 90% among Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers.
Additional Information:
About Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
- It is a Maternity Benefit Programme that is implemented in all the districts of the country in accordance with the provision of the National Food Security Act, 2013. It was launched in 2017.
Objectives:
- Providing partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentive s so that the woman can take adequate res t before and after delivery of the first living child.
- The cash incentive provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW& LM).
Benefits: Under PMMVY, a cash incentive of 5000/- is provided directly to the Bank / Post Office Account of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM)for first living child of the family subject to fulfilling specific conditions relating to Maternal and Child Health.
Beneficiaries:
- All Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers, excluding PW&LM who are in regular employment with the Central Government or the State Governments or PSUs or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being in force.
- All eligible Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who have their pregnancy on or after 1st January 2017 for first child in family.
Implementation: PMMVY is implemented using the platform of Anganwadi Services scheme of Umbrella ICDS under Ministry of Women and Child Development.
