• Over 4.05 crore women across India have received at least one instalment of maternity benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), with total disbursements crossing Rs 19,028 crore, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said on August 4.

• The ministry has extended the special registration drive for PMMVY till August 15, 2025.

• The ongoing door-to-door campaign, led by Anganwadi and ASHA workers, aims to ensure that all eligible pregnant and lactating women are enrolled on time. 

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)

• The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Mission Shakti’s sub-scheme ‘Samarthya’, providing direct financial assistance through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.

• The government of India is implementing PMMVY with effect from January 1, 2017.

• Under PMMVY, a cash incentive of Rs 5,000 is provided in two instalments directly to the bank/post office account of pregnant women and lactating mothers for the first child in the family.

• The eligible beneficiaries also receive the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) after institutional delivery so that on an average, a beneficiary gets Rs 6,000. 

• Cash incentive of Rs 6,000 is also provided under PMMVY to eligible beneficiaries for second child subject to the second child being a girl.

• Grant-in-aid is released to states/UTs on a cost sharing ratio basis. The ratio between the Centre and states & UTs with legislature is 60:40, for northeastern states & Himalayan states it is 90:10 and for Union Territories without legislature, it is 100 per cent. 

• To ensure dedicated and timely availability of funds to the beneficiaries, without parking of funds at state/UT level, the scheme provides that states/UTs shall maintain a state/UT level Single Nodal Agency (SNA) account for the scheme. 

Objectives of PMMVY:

i) Providing partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the child.

ii) The cash incentive provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM).

iii) To promote positive behavioural change towards girl child by providing additional cash incentive for the second child, if that is a girl child.

• To enhance efficiency and transparency, the scheme has been integrated with PMMVYSoft which is a digital platform launched in March 2023.

• This software uses Aadhaar-based authentication and NPCI verification to ensure that funds are directly transferred to the beneficiaries’ Aadhaar-linked bank or post office accounts.

• The revamped portal also features an Integrated Grievance Module, a multilingual toll-free helpline (14408), Aadhaar-based biometric authentication using Facial Recognition System (FRS), and an automated due-list to identify and reach out to potential beneficiaries.

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