PM MATRU VANDANA YOJANA

PM MATRU VANDANA YOJANA

TOPIC: Governance

Context- The government’s has recently announced that the maternity benefit programme which provides ₹5,000 for first child will be extended to cover the second child only if it is a girl.

Concept-

The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY):

• The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), launched in 2017, provides ₹5,000 for the birth of the first child to partially compensate a woman for loss of wages.
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme being executed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme: Cash benefits are provided to pregnant women in their bank account directly to meet enhanced nutritional needs and partially compensate for wage loss.
• It also aims to improve the nutritional well-being of the mother and the child.
• Beneficiaries receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three installments on fulfilling the following conditions:
  • Early registration of pregnancy
  • Ante-natal check-up
  • Registration of the birth of the child and completion of first cycle of vaccination for the first living child of the family.
• It is combined with another scheme, Janani Suraksha Yojana, under which nearly ₹1,000 is given for an institutional birth, so that a woman gets a total of ₹6,000.
• Under the revamped PMMVY under Mission Shakti, the maternity benefit amounting to ₹6000 is also to be provided for the second child, but only if the second is a girl child, to discourage pre-birth sex selection and promote the girl child.
• National Food Security Act, 2013 lays down that every pregnant woman and lactating mother are entitled to maternity benefits.