PM Matru Vandana Yojana: Narendra Modi government at the Center has started many schemes in the interest of women. One such scheme is Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY). Under this scheme, the central government provides financial help to the pregnant woman with conditions.
When was the scheme started: Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) was started on 1 January 2017. However, three years later it was revised as a component of Mission Shakti from April 2022. Its objective is to provide cash incentive to women for partial compensation of wage loss during pregnancy, so that women can take adequate rest before and after the birth of the child. Through this, emphasis is also laid on improving health related behavior among pregnant women and lactating mothers (PW&LM).
Assistance up to Rs 6000: The scheme provides a maternity benefit of Rs 5,000/- paid in two installments to pregnant women coming from socially and economically deprived backgrounds. This benefit of the scheme has now been extended to the second child also, provided the second child is a girl. In this revised structure, mothers are eligible to receive an incentive amount of ₹6000 in a single installment after the birth of the second girl child.
This will also contribute to improving the sex ratio at birth by discouraging female feticide and increasing labor force participation. Apart from this the scheme also encourages timely vaccination, delivery registration and registration for institutional births. Since the inception of this scheme, financial assistance has been provided to more than 3.11 crore beneficiaries by distributing a total amount of Rs 14,103 crore. The money is transferred seamlessly to the beneficiary through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through PMMVY portal and mobile app.
