Beneficiaries under scheme for pregnant, lactating mothers crosses 1 cr: WCD ministry

The number of beneficiaries under the Central government's flagship scheme for pregnant and lactating women, the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, has crossed one crore, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Thursday.

It is a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme under which cash benefits are provided to pregnant women in their bank accounts for them to meet enhanced nutritional needs and partially compensate for wage loss.

The WCD ministry, in a statement, said Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Rajasthan are the top five states and Union territories in the country in implementation of the Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.

However, Odisha and Telangana are yet to start implementation of the scheme, it said.

Under the scheme, pregnant women and lactating mothers receive a cash benefit of Rs 5,000 in three installments on fulfilling the respective conditionality, through early registration of pregnancy, ante-natal check-up and registration of the birth of the child and completion of first cycle of vaccination for the first living child of the family, the statement said.

The eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana. Thus, on an average, a woman gets Rs 6,000, it said.

The WCD ministry said the total amount disbursed to the beneficiaries under the scheme has crossed Rs 4,000 crore.

Implementation of the scheme is closely monitored by Central and state governments through PMMVY-CAS, a web-based software. The application is interoperable with UIDAI and Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for authentication of beneficiaries and their bank Accounts.

"The scheme is 100 per cent local government directory-compliant with a uniform master data of all villages/towns/cities throughout the country on one platform -- PMMVY-CAS. These features have helped in quick implementation of the scheme and eliminating duplication of benefits," the statement said.