New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS) The Union government has extended the special registration drive for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which provides financial assistance to pregnant, lactating women, till August 15, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Monday.
Launched first in 2010 and then renamed in 2017, the PMMVY scheme provides financial assistance to support nutritious diets and improve health-seeking behaviour amongst pregnant women and lactating mothers and also promotes positive attitudes toward the girl child.
The PMMVY offers cash incentives as partial compensation for wage loss to enable mothers to rest before and after the delivery of the first child.
Till 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,” the Ministry said.
“The ongoing door-to-door awareness-cum-enrolment campaign, led by Anganwadi and ASHA workers, aims to reach out to all eligible pregnant and lactating women and ensure their timely registration under the scheme,” it added.
PMMVY is a centrally sponsored scheme under Mission Shakti’s sub-scheme ‘Samarthya’, and provides 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.
The scheme also aims to improve health-seeking behaviour among pregnant women and lactating mothers and ensure better maternal and child health outcomes across the country.
The scheme is implemented by state officials through their field functionaries using the new Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana Software (PMMVYSoft) 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 also been introduced in the PMMVY portal, to ensure smoother delivery and greater coverage of the scheme, such as the introduction of an integrated grievance module, multi-lingual and toll-free PMMVY helpline (14408), Aadhaar-based biometric authentication using facial recognition system (FRS) and a due-list of potential PMMVY beneficiaries,” the ministry noted.
–IANS
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