NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested reforms to make the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), a central flagship scheme that provides maternity benefits to pregnant and lactating mothers, more technology-driven, transparent and robust, official sources said Friday.
Among the recommendations by the prime minister in the recently held 50th meeting of PRAGATI - the ICT-enabled multi-modal platform for pro-active governance and timely implementation - is strengthening the grievance redressal mechanism in PMMVY, under which the centre provides cash incentives for the first and second child, if it’s a girl.
In 2025-26, 59.19 lakh beneficiaries have been paid the maternity benefit amounting to Rs. 2,022.08 crore till January 8.
Following the PM's review of the flagship programme, the sources said, the Women and Child Development Ministry has introduced an Integrated Grievance Redressal Module in the PMMVY Portal.
The prime minister, who pushed for technology-driven delivery mechanisms, in his year-end review of various schemes of central ministries, also insisted on “weeding out” ineligible beneficiaries, and “to ensure that no eligible beneficiary is left out.”
After registering the grievance, the applicant receives an SMS with a ticket number, and they can also check the status of their grievance in the module.
Officials said grievances registered on the redressal module are directly assigned to the concerned functionaries in the State/UTs, who have been directed to resolve the grievances within 30 days.
More than 85% of the over 60,000 grievances received till December 8 have been resolved with an average resolution time of 19 days.
In May, the prime minister, again in the PRAGATI meeting, had suggested that the ministry use the existing Facial Recognition System (FRS) available on the Poshan Tracker - a mobile application used by Anganwadi workers to upload various data, including nutritional benefits for pregnant and lactating mothers - for PMMVY beneficiaries as well.
This was suggested to eliminate duplicate verification procedures.
Under the scheme, women are entitled to Rs. 5,000 from the WCD ministry and Rs. 1,000 from the Union Health Ministry in the case of a first child, and Rs. 6,000 for second child, if it's a girl.
The FRS-based enrolment ensures that maternity benefit is provided only to an eligible beneficiary, as the beneficiary's identity is verified in real time.
This app-based FRS process is also simple, as Aadhaar is required for verification, which has resulted in wider acceptance among field functionaries, official sources added.
It complements document-based identity verification, thereby facilitating the responsible distribution of public money.
Till January 8, FRS-based enrollment has been completed in more than 740 districts nationwide.
“The pan-India implementation demonstrates the robustness, scalability, and extensive reach of the system. Such extensive coverage also enhances transparency and accuracy of beneficiary data, thereby strengthening service delivery under the programme,” official sources added.
The ministry has also launched the search-and-track facility on the PMMVY Portal, where an applicant can use their Beneficiary ID/registered mobile number to track their application and payment status.
This facility, also suggested by the prime minister, is available to the Helpline agent of PMMVY Helpline - 1515.
Till January 8, more than 7.36 lakh beneficiaries and call agents have used this functionality to track their status.
Official sources said the new initiatives will improve the “ease of living” for beneficiaries.
The scheme, launched in 2017, provides financial assistance to support nutritious diets and improve health-seeking behaviour amongst pregnant women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM), as well as promoting positive attitudes toward the girl child.
The scheme can be availed through mandatory biometric verification through facial authentication introduced from May 21, 2025, for all new enrolments under PMMVY.
“All states and Union Territories have widely accepted the FRS system. Since the introduction of this feature, 23.60 Lakh beneficiaries till January 8 have been enrolled after biometric verification through FRS,” sources said.
To make this transition smoother, various training sessions have been organised with states and UTs.
The ministry has made video tutorials available to reach grassroots-level functionaries.
A special enrolment drive was organised from July 15 to August 15, 2025, to address early challenges in adopting the FRS and to generate renewed momentum for the financial year.
During this drive, 4.63 lakh beneficiaries were enrolled after FRS verification, officials added.