NEW DELHI: The ongoing door-to-door awareness-cum-enrolment campaign drive to reach out to all eligible pregnant and lactating women to ensure their timely registration under the scheme Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) has been extended till August 15.
The scheme provides financial assistance to support nutritious diets and improve health-seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM), along with promoting positive attitudes toward the girl child.
It offers cash incentives as partial compensation for wage loss to enable mothers to rest before and after the delivery of the first child.
Since the scheme's inception and up to July 31, more than 4.05 crore beneficiaries have been paid the maternity benefit (at least one instalment) amounting to Rs.19,028 crore through direct benefit transfer in their bank/post office accounts, according to Women and Child Development ministry officials.
The PMMVY is a centrally sponsored scheme under Mission Shakti’s sub-scheme 'Samarthya', providing direct financial assistance through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
Under PMMVY, a cash incentive of Rs 5,000 is provided in two instalments for the first child, and Rs 6,000 is provided in one instalment post-birth for the second girl child, in accordance with Mission Shakti Scheme Guidelines, officials added.
The scheme aims to improve health-seeking behaviour among pregnant women and lactating mothers and ensure better maternal and child health outcomes across the country.
The implementation of the scheme is done by states and UTs through their field functionaries using the new Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana Software (PMMVYSoft) that was launched in March 2023.
Under PMMVYSoft, Aadhaar authentication through UIDAI is done digitally and National Payment Corporations of India (NPCI) verification is ensured so that funds are directly transferred to their DBT-enabled Aadhaar-seeded bank or post office accounts.
A number of reforms have been introduced in the PMMVY portal, to ensure smoother delivery and greater coverage of the scheme, such as introduction of the Integrated Grievance Module, Multilingual and Toll-free PMMVY Helpline (14408), Aadhar-based biometric authentication using Facial Recognition System (FRS) and a due list of potential PMMVY beneficiaries, officials added.