NEW DELHI: With crucial Assembly elections in five states round the corner, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought expeditious rollout of the maternity benefit scheme for pregnant women in which the Centre would pass on Rs 2000 each in three instalments with the objective to give a boost to the well-being of the mother and the baby. The NITI Aayog in collaborations with the Ministry of Health and family welfares and the Ministry of Women and Child Development has called a meeting of senior officials of the states to chalk out the rollout plan on January 23 in the national capital.
The Prime Minister has asked the NITI Aayog to submit a final report on the rollout of the maternity benefit scheme on January 24, sources said. The think panel has drafted a note, which states that the pregnant women would be given Rs 2000 at the time of registration of pregnancy at the primary health care run by the state government or the local bodies. “The second instalment of Rs 2000 will be given at the time of delivery of the baby, while the third and the last instalment of Rs 2000 will be handed out when the child becomes six months of age,” said a senior official in the NITI Aayog.
The Modi government is keen to rollout the scheme this month end, with sources saying that the BJP is eyeing the women voters in the poll bound states. It may be recalled that the Prime Minister had announced on December 31 during his televised address to the nation on the conclusion of 50 days of the decision of demonetization that the Centre would transfer Rs 6,000 directly to the women opting for institutionalised delivery of their babies and taking the necessary vaccinations.
“The government is keen to fulfil the promise of the Prime Minister with no loss of time. The state governments need to be sanitised about the scheme and the roadmap for its implementation. The Ministry of Women and Child Development will be the nodal agency, which will work in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to ensure that there is a marked improvement on the front of the maternal and infant well being indicators in the country,” added the official of the NITI Aayog.
The Centre is keen that the state governments extend their full support to the rollout of the scheme by ensuring the Aadhar seedings of the bank accounts of the beneficiaries for universal coverage of the programme. The maternal mortality ratio per 1,00,000 delivery in India was last reported to be 178 for the sample survey of 2010-12.