Explainer: What is the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 23, 2019
In 2017, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana aimed at providing financial assistance to pregnant women. Odisha & Telangana have not implemented this scheme since they have a similar & better state specific scheme.
In his address to the nation on the eve of New Year 2017, i.e. on 31 December 2016, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had announced a scheme which is aimed at providing financialassistance to pregnant women.
Accordingly,the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) scheme was formally
launched on 01 September 2017, as a centrally sponsored scheme, which would beimplemented across all the districts in India. The scheme was effective from 01January 2017.
What is the purpose
of implementing a Maternity Benefits Programme?
The scheme wasintroduced to address the following challenges;
In view ofthis, a Maternity Benefits Programme called ‘Pradhan
Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)’  was launched.
What is the
PMMVY about?
Under PMMVY, anincentive of Rs. 5,000 would be credited directly into the Bank/Post OfficeAccount of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) for first livingchild of the family. This incentive is paid out in three installments.
PMMVY is beingimplemented through the Anganwadi system, which is part of Ministry of Womenand Child Development’s umbrella ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme). Inthose States/UTs where ICDS isn’t there, the scheme is implemented through Health& Family Welfare Department of the state government.
A web based
software application supported by CDFI ( Centre
for Digital Financial Inclusion) is used in the implementationof the scheme. This platform helps in the registration of the beneficiariesalong with verification of the conditions for release of the payment.
The AnganwadiCentre (AWC) along with ASHA/ANM workers are the focal points in collecting theinformation of the beneficiaries for the scheme and getting the information updatedon the web application.
What are the conditions
for availing benefit under the scheme?
The incentiveamount of Rs. 5,000 would be released in 3 installments after the meetingspecific conditions set for each installment.
Thebeneficiaries are required to fill up 3 forms, one before each installment.These forms include Form 1A, Form 1B, and Form 1C for each ofthe installments respectively.
The conditionsto be met for availing the benefits and the supporting
documents required are specified below.
Anganwadi/ASHAworkers are required to collect the forms from the beneficiaries for therespective installment claims along with the required verification documents.The information from these documents needs to be updated in the online systemby them or with the assistance of government appointed data entry operators.This information is verified by the respective sanctioning officers andforwarded to State Nodal Officer who approves the application. The sanctionedamount is then transferred to the beneficiary account.
A sample
timeline is provided by Ministry of Women and Child Development regarding theintervals at which benefit is extended.
More than 49
Lakhs beneficiaries received incentive since inception of the scheme
In a question asked in Lok Sabha in July 2019, a concern was raised whether the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMYY) wasviolating a tenet under National Food Security Act (NFSA). As per the NFSA, every pregnant and lactating mother is entitled to maternity benefits of not less than Rs. 6000. However, the amount being disbursed through PMMVY is only Rs. 5,000.
Answering this question in Lok Sabha on 26 July 2019, Union Minister forWomen and Child Development has stated that eligible beneficiaries also receivebenefits from Janani Suraksha Yojana through Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, apart from PMMVY and thereforethe total benefits average out Rs. 6000 per beneficiary.
The answer also provides details of the total number of beneficiarieswho benefitted from this scheme since 01 January 2017. A total of 49.58 lakhbeneficiaries across India have claimed all the three installments till date. Thehighest number of beneficiaries are from Uttar Pradesh followed by MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
Any furtherdetails about PMMVY are available from the ‘Frequently
Asked Questions’ for PMMVY document by Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Odisha & Telangana have their own schemes, better than PMMVY
From theanswer provided in the Lok Sabha, it is clear that the states of Odisha &Telangana are not implementing the PMMVY because they are implementing a statespecific maternity benefit scheme.
In Odisha, thescheme is called ‘Mamata’ andwas launched in the year 2011. In Telangana, the scheme is called KCR Kit &
Amma Odi and was launched in 2017. Both the schemes are better than the centralscheme PMMVY in terms of coverage & eligibility.
This is another example where certain states have formulated better schemes than those of the centre, both in terms of coverage & financial incentive. Even in the case of Ayushman Bharat, states like Telangana & Andhra Pradesh have not implemented it since the states had a similar scheme for more than 10 years that is better in terms of coverage. The Government of India needs to think of such states before launching any scheme and provide the required flexibility.
Featured Image:Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana