The Ministry of Women and Child Development has extended the special registration drive for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) till 15th August 2025.

About PMMVY

The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a centrally sponsored scheme launched as part of the Mission Shakti initiative's sub-scheme Samarthya. It provides direct financial assistance to pregnant women and lactating mothers in the form of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The primary focus of this scheme is to support women, especially from socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society, during pregnancy and lactation periods.

Objectives

• Improve maternal and child health by promoting health-seeking behavior among pregnant women and lactating mothers.

• Provide financial assistance to ensure better health outcomes for both the mother and child.

Benefits of PMMVY

• A cash incentive of ?5,000 is provided in two installments to pregnant women and lactating mothers for the first child in the family.

• The beneficiaries also receive the remaining maternity benefits as per the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) after institutional delivery, bringing the total amount to an average of ?6,000.

• For the second child, a ?6,000 cash incentive is provided, provided the second child is a girl.

• In case of miscarriage or stillbirth, the beneficiary will be treated as a new beneficiary in the event of any future pregnancy.

Eligibility Criteria

The scheme primarily targets socially and economically disadvantaged women and includes the following categories:

• Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) women.

• Divyang Jan (physically challenged) women (either partially or fully disabled).

• Women holding BPL (Below Poverty Line) ration cards.

• Women beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) under Ayushman Bharat.

• E-shram card holders.

• Women farmers who are part of Kishan Samman Nidhi.

• Women holding MGNREGA Job Cards.

• Women whose family income is less than ?8 Lakh per annum.

• Pregnant and lactating Anganwadi Workers (AWWs), Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs), and ASHAs.

• Other categories as prescribed by the Central Government.

Note: Pregnant women and lactating mothers working in regular employment with the Central/State Government or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), or those who are already receiving maternity benefits under any existing law, are not eligible.

Implementation

The scheme is being implemented through the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana Software (PMMVYSoft), which was launched in March 2023. It ensures:

• Aadhaar authentication through UIDAI.

• NPCI verification to ensure direct transfer of funds to Aadhaar-seeded bank/post office accounts of beneficiaries.

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)

subtopic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Features of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)

• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a maternity benefit rechristened from erstwhile Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY). The IGMSY was launched in 2010.
• The scheme is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women.
• It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage loss during childbirth and childcare and provides conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.
• They receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three instalments on fulfilling the respective conditionality, viz. early registration of pregnancy, ante-natal check-up and registration of the birth of the child, and completion of the first cycle of vaccination for the first living child of the family.
• The eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentives under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). Thus, on average, a woman gets Rs. 6,000.
• Exceptions: The maternity benefits are available to all Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) except those in regular employment with the Central Government or State Government or Public Sector Undertaking or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being in force.
• Funding: The scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which the cost-sharing ratio between the Centre and the States & UTs with Legislature is 60:40 while for the North-Eastern States & three Himalayan States; it is 90:10. It is 100% Central assistance for Union Territories without Legislature.

Challenges to Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana

• The PMMVY scheme has failed to reach at least 49% of all mothers who would have delivered their first child (an estimated total of 123 lakh for 2017 according to the researchers).
• Given the stipulated conditions, the scheme brings under its ambit 23% of all births and pays full benefits to a mere 14% of all births, which was at 270.5 lakh for 2017.
• Only 66% of pregnant women and 69% of nursing women knew about the scheme. Only 8% of pregnant women and 23% of nursing mothers received some benefits.
• An application form of about 23 pages, a slew of documents such as mother-child protection card, Aadhaar card, husband’s Aadhaar card, and bank passbook aside from linking their bank accounts with Aadhaar.
• The requirement to produce the husband’s Aadhaar card results in excluding women who may be living with men they are not married to, single mothers, and those who may be staying at their natal home.
• Women must also have the address of their marital home on their Aadhaar card, which often results in newlyweds being either left out or forced to go from door-to-door when pregnant and needing rest and care.

Way ahead:

• Undernutrition continues to adversely affect the majority of women in India. In India, every third woman is undernourished and every second woman is anemic.
• An undernourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. When poor nutrition starts in-utero, it extends throughout the life cycle since the changes are largely irreversible.
• Owing to economic and social distress many women continue to work to earn a living for their family right up to the last days of their pregnancy.
• They resume working soon after childbirth, even though their bodies might not permit it, thus preventing their bodies from fully recovering on one hand, and also impeding their ability to exclusively breastfeed their young infant in the first six months.