• Nearly 37 lakh women have received cash incentives under the Centre’s maternity benefits programme since the launch of Matru Vandana Saptah last year, a release from the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

About:

• The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana(PMMVY) offers pregnant women and lactating mothers Rs. 5,000 as assistance for the first birth in the family. The programme’s aim is to reduce malnutrition
• The scheme has an estimated 51.6 lakh beneficiaries a year.
• As many as 48.11 lakh women have been enrolled in the Matru Vandana Saptah and the Centre has disbursed an amount of Rs. 1,168.63 crores to various States, the release.

Background:

• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a Maternity Benefit Programme that is implemented in all the districts of the country in accordance with the provision of the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• It is  a conditional  cash  transfer scheme  for  pregnant  and  lactating women  of  19  years  of age or above for the first live birth. It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.
• All pregnant women of 19 years of age and above were eligible for conditional cashtransfer benefits of ₹6000 to paid in two  instalments, except those who receive  paid maternity leave.
• With objective of:
  • Promoting appropriate practice, care and institutional service utilization during pregnancy, delivery and lactation
  • Encouraging the women to follow(optimal) nutrition and feeding practices, including early and Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months; and
  • Providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and lactating mothers
• Initially the scheme is implemented on a pilot basis in 53 selected districts and proposals are under consideration to scale it up to 200 additional ‘high burden districts’ in 2015-16, in 2017 the scheme scaled up to cover 650 districts of the country.