NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDY AND RESEARCH IN LAW

RANCHI

RESEARCH PAPER
TOPIC: PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDANA YOJANA

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

ARUNIMA SINGH 983 (A) DR. K SYAMALA

AVINASH KUMAR 987 (A) ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR,
SONAL KUMARI 1078 (B) NUSRL

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...3
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AT VARIOUS LEVELS…………………………………..7
1. Roles and Responsibilities of Anganwadi Worker (AWW)
2. . Roles and Responsibilities of Anganwadi Helper (AWH)
3. . Roles and Responsibilities of ASHA/ANM
4. Roles and Responsibilities Of Supervisor/ANM
5. Roles and Responsibilities officer at Block/Project level implementing PMMVY
6. Roles and Responsibilities of District Nodal Officer (DNO)
7. . Roles and Responsibilities of State/UT Nodal Officer (SNO
8. Roles and Responsibilities of Central Nodal Officer (CNO)
FUND FLOW AND DISBURSAL MECHANISM……………………………………………..19

ESCROW ACCOUNT………………………………………………………………………20
PAYMENT MECHANISM…………………………………………………………………..21
QUALIFICATION CONDITIONS AND CONDITIONALITIES …………………………………..22

RECORDS, REPORTS, MONITORING AND EVALUATION…………………………………..23

GUIDELINES FOR RECORD RETENTION …………………………………………………..24

SOCIAL AUDITS/ADDRESSING GRIEVANCES…………………………………………….. 25

PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDANA YOJNA- A CRITICAL ANALYSIS………………….28

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INTRODUCTION

Under-sustenance proceeds to unfavourably influence dominant part of women in India. In

India, each third woman is undernourished and consistently woman is pale. An
undernourished mother unavoidably brings forth a low birth weight child. At the point when
poor nourishment begins in-utero, it reaches out for the duration of the existence cycle since
the progressions are to a great extent irreversible. Inferable from financial and social misery
numerous women keep on attempting to procure a living for their family straight up to the
most recent days of their pregnancy.1 Besides, they continue working not long after labour,
despite the fact that their bodies probably won't grant it, in this manner keeping their bodies
from completely recouping on one hand, and furthermore obstructing their capacity to only
breastfeed their young new born child in the initial a half year.

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a maternity advantage program run by
the administration of India. It was presented in 2017 and is actualized by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development. It is a contingent money move plot for pregnant and
lactating women of 19 years old or above for the main live birth. It gives a halfway pay
remuneration to women for wage-misfortune during labour and childcare and to give
conditions to safe conveyance and great nourishment and taking care of practices. In 2013,
the plan was brought under the National Food Security Act2, 2013 to actualize the
arrangement of money maternity advantage of ₹6,000 (US$84) expressed in the Act.]
Presently, the plan is executed on a pilot premise in 53 chose regions and proposition are
getting looked at to scale it up to 200 extra 'high weight areas' in 2015–16. The qualified
recipients would get the motivation given under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) for
Institutional conveyance and the motivator got under JSY would be accounted towards
maternity benefits so that on a normal a woman gets ₹6,000 (US$84)

1
 https://thewire.in/gender/maternity-benefit-programme
2
 National Food Security Ordinance, No. 7 of 2013, 5 July 2013

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The plan, rechristened Maternity benefits program is set to cover the whole country. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, in his 2017 New Year's Eve speech, reported that the plan will be
scaled up to cover 650 areas of the nation. 3 The declaration expect hugeness as India
represents 17% of every single maternal demise on the planet. The nation's maternal death
rate is pegged at 130 for each 100,000 live births, while infant mortality is assessed at 43 for
each 1,000 live births. Among the essential drivers of high maternal and infant mortality are
poor sustenance and lacking clinical consideration during pregnancy and labour4.

From 01.01.2017, the Maternity Benefit Program is being actualized in all the areas of the
nation as per the arrangement of the National Food Security Act, 2013. The program is
named as 'Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana' (PMMVY).

Under PMMVY, a cash incentive of Rs 5000 is being given legitimately in the record of
Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) for first living offspring of the family
subject to their satisfying explicit conditions identifying with Maternal and Child Health. The
qualified recipients would get the rest of the cash incentives according to affirmed standards
towards maternity advantage under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)5 after institutional
conveyance so that on a normal, a woman gets Rs 6000.6

PMMVY, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, gives awards in-help to the State

Governments/Union Territory Administrations (UTs) in a devoted Escrow represent the
motivation behind direct advantage move to the recipients. It is being executed utilizing the
foundation of Anganwadi Services plan of Umbrella ICDS under Ministry of Women and
Child Development in regard of States/UTs actualizing plan through Women and Child
Development Department/Social Welfare Department and through Health framework in
regard of States/UTs where plan will be executed by Health and Family Welfare Department.
It is being actualized through a midway conveyed Web Based MIS Software application and
3
 "Full transcript of PM Narendra Modi's New Year's eve speech". hindustantimes.com/. 31 December 2016.
Retrieved 27th April 2020.
4
 Yadav, Anumeha. "Modi's rebranded maternity benefits scheme may actually reduce extent of
coverage". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
5
Background of Janani Suraksha Scheme. Retrieved 6th May 2020.
6
 "Rs 6,000 aid for pregnant women on hospitalisation, says Modi". Times of India Blog. Retrieved 6th
May 2020..

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the point of convergence of usage would be the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) and ASHA/ANM
laborers.

The maternity benefits under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) are
accessible to the qualified recipients for first living child. Ordinarily, the principal pregnancy
of a woman opens her to new sorts of difficulties and stress factors. Subsequently, the plan
offers help to the mother for safe conveyance and vaccination of her first living kid.

The Government has agreed high need to the issue of unhealthiness and is actualizing a few
plans like Anganwadi Services7, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru
Vandana Yojna (PMMVY) under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) Scheme8 as immediate focused on mediations to address the issue of hunger among
women and kids in the nation.

Government has set up POSHAN Abhiyaan on 18.12.2017 for a three-year time span
initiating from 2017-18. The objectives of POSHAN Abhiyaan are to accomplish
improvement in dietary status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women
and Lactating Mothers in a period bound way during the three years with fixed focuses as
under:

The Abhiyaan plans to diminish lack of healthy sustenance in the nation in a staged way,
through an actual existence cycle approach, by receiving a synergised and result situated
methodology. The Abhiyaan has components for auspicious assistance conveyance and a
hearty checking just as mediation framework. It focuses to cut down hindering of the
youngsters in the age gathering of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% constantly 2022. The
significant exercises attempted under this Abhiyaan are guaranteeing combination with
different projects9; Information Technology empowered Common Application Software for
reinforcing administration conveyance and mediations; Community Mobilization and

7
"Anganwadi Centres". Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India.
8
"Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme". wcd.nic.in.
9
https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/poshan-abhiyaan-pms-overarching-scheme-holistic-nourishment

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Awareness Advocacy prompting Jan Andolan10-to instruct the individuals on dietary
perspectives; Capacity Building of Frontline Functionaries, boosting States/UTs for
accomplishing objectives and so forth.

The maternity benefits under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) are
accessible to every single Pregnant Woman and Lactating Mother (PW&LM), aside from the
individuals who are in customary work with the Central Government or State Government or
Public Sector Undertaking or the individuals who are in receipt of comparable advantages
under any law for the present in power, for first living youngster in quite a while of the
nation, including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Under PMMVY, maternity advantage of ₹
5,000/ - is given in three portions to qualified PW&LM during the time of pregnancy and
lactation. The qualified recipient additionally gets the rest of the money motivation according
to affirmed standards towards maternity advantage under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) after
institutional conveyance so that on a normal, a woman gets ₹ 6,000.11

The PMMVY is checked on occasionally through Video Conferences with States/UTs and
through National and Regional level workshops for its effective usage. The operational
troubles looked by the States/UTs in usage of the plan, as and when revealed, are tended to
through shared/specialized conversations.

Yearly objective can't be fixed. Notwithstanding, PMMVY is relied upon to cover 51.70
lakhs recipients per annum.

10
https://www.icds-wcd.nic.in/nnm/NNM-Web-Contents/LEFT-MENU/Guidelines/JanAndolanGuidelines-
English.pdf
11
 "Cash Entitlements under Janani Suraksha Yojana". National Health Mission, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, Government of India. Retrieved 19th May 2020.

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 ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES AT VARIOUS LEVELS

1. Roles and Responsibilities of Anganwadi Worker (AWW)

1.1 To Understand the details of the PMMVY Scheme and create awareness about scheme to
eligible women within their jurisdiction and use any promotional material that is provided for
the purpose.

1.2 Identification of potential beneficiaries has to be done through regular activities such as
home survey, health visits/camps and interaction with potential beneficiaries who may visit
the Anganwadi, as well as examination of registers maintained in the Anganwadi and
participation in VHSND.

1.3 Assist Beneficiaries for Registration under the Scheme :

a. Determine which form(s) need to be filled up by the beneficiary.

b. Help beneficiary to fill-up the form(s) completely and make necessary attachments as
required.

c. If the beneficiary has yet to comply with conditionalities as per the scheme, facilitate the
same by coordinating with the Local Health Worker.

d. If the beneficiary/ her husband does not have an Aadhaar number, help them to get
enrolled12.

e. If the beneficiary does not have a Bank account or Post Office account, help her in
account opening.

1.4 Acceptance and Verification of Form(s) :

a. Ensure that all required documents are attached with the respective form(s) as mentioned
in the scheme guidelines.

b. Ensure that the bank/ Post-office account provided during registration in the scheme
belongs to the beneficiary only.

12
(11,2010), https://aadhaar-articles.blogspot.com/.

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 c. Ensure that the beneficiary submits the same ID proof that she had registered with at the
time of claim of subsequent instalments13.

d. Ensure that the beneficiary provides Aadhaar details as soon as it is available.

1.5 Submission of Form(s) to Supervisor :

a. Make bundles of all form(s) received in the same order of PMMVY register entry.

b. Submit the form(s) to the Supervisor and obtain signature from supervisor in the form
register. Ensure that the Supervisor verifies each of the form(s) before affixing their
signature.

c. Form(s) should be handed over to the supervisor within 7 days or earlier from the date of
receipt.

d. Keep a photocopy of the filled form(s) to be maintained at the AWC/ Village. In absence
of a Xerox machine, she must fill the details on another form without taking the signature of
the beneficiary.

1.6 Corrections to Form(s) already submitted :

a. Application form(s) would be returned back to AWW on account of incorrect Aadhaar

details and/or incorrect Bank/ Post-office account/ Post Office Account details.

b. The AWW should contact the applicant and necessary corrections to the form(s) are to
be made using a Fresh form14.

c. The Fresh form along with the Old form(s) should be submitted to the supervisor for
processing within 30 days of its receipt.

1.7 Maintaining the PMMVY Register :

a. The AWW must make an entry in the PMMVY register as soon as a beneficiary has
submitted the registration form.

b. This register must be updated regularly for each application submitted by the beneficiary
as soon as she fulfils the eligibility criteria for future Instalments.

13
( May 22, 2018), http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/scm38-3455300-pensioners-handbook-copy/.
14
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB854.

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 c. Changes to the address, mobile number, Aadhaar number, bank/ Post-office account/
post office account number must be entered promptly.

d. For beneficiaries who have newly migrated into the locality or have migrated out of the
locality should be recorded in the PMMVY Register if it comes to the knowledge of the
AWW as part of their routine work15.

1.8 Dissemination of Beneficiary Payments, Grievance Handling :

a. Each month, a list of beneficiaries who have received payments would be provided by
the Child Development Project Office; intimation to the beneficiary is to be given by the
AWW with a request to verify their account for same.

b. A monthly report (MPR) must be submitted to the supervisor for discussion and
validation during the monthly meetings and submission to the Project Office/Health Block
Office16.

c. Usually, grievance would be pertaining to delayed or incorrect payments. If this is the

case, then details should be recorded and discussed with the supervisor during
fortnightly/monthly meetings for resolution of the same.

d. All queries and issues for which the AWW doesn’t have appropriate or complete
knowledge should be escalated to the supervisor.

1.9 Promoting Scheme objective :

a. AWW shall promote health seeking behaviour among beneficiaries, advise them for
adequate rest before and after delivery and timely vaccination of the child.

b. AWW shall spread awareness about health seeking behaviour through VHSND meeting.

c. AWW should encourage beneficiaries of the scheme to get their ANC done under the
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)17. The PMSMA initiative provides
antenatal care services to pregnant women by Obstetrician/Gynaecologist / Radiologist/
Physicians at approved health facilities, with support from private sector doctors.

1.10 Proper maintenance of record : The forms should be handed over to authorised persons
only.
15
https://www.scribd.com/document/373120913/PMMVY-Scheme-Implementation-Guidelines-MWCD-1-0.
16
https://missionhh.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000337030-Mission-Healthcare-CA-CHAP-Core-10-15.
17
http://www.aakrassociates.com/news/page/44/.

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2. Roles and Responsibilities of Anganwadi Helper (AWH)

a. AWH will create awareness and distribute promotional material.

b. She will assist AWW in identification of potential beneficiary.

c. She will inform beneficiary about the camps organised at AWC for enrolment of
Aadhaar, opening of bank account, vaccination etc.

d. She will promote objective of the scheme such as health seeking behaviour, advice for
rest before and after delivery, regular check-up etc.

3. Roles and Responsibilities of ASHA/ANM

The Roles and Responsibilities of ASHA/ANM and AWW are similar in nature, though there
are certain responsibilities which are in addition to ASHA/ANM workers and they are as
follows:

3.1 Acknowledgement and PMMVY Register Entry : The acknowledgement slips can be
sent back through the respective ASHA worker back to the beneficiaries in the event there is
no direct interaction with the beneficiary.

3.2 Submission of Form(s) for Processing : Submit the form(s) to the ANM (in case of
submission by ASHA) and obtain signature from the accepting authority18.

3.3 Maintaining the PMMVY Register : Two copies of monthly records/MPR (Form-4 of
Register) must be made of which one must be submitted to the Health Block Office and one
must be kept with the ANM19.

3.4 Dissemination of Beneficiary Payments & Grievance Handling :

a. Each month, a list of beneficiaries who have received payments would be provided by
the Health Block Office; intimation to the beneficiary is to be given by the ASHA with a
request to verify their account for same.

b. All queries and issues raised by the beneficiaries to the ASHA/ANM has to be
responded in consultation with the higher processing authorities, unless such information is
available with them.

18
http://swd.kerala.gov.in/DOCUMENTS/Orders/Internal%20Orders/20219.pptx.
19
( Mar. 02, 2007), https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/FR/.xml.

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4. Roles And Responsibilities Of Supervisor/ANM

4.1 Collection, Verification and Acknowledgement of Form(s) :

a. Organize to collect the form(s) from the Anganwadi Centre/ Health Facilities every
week.

b. Ensure all required documents are attached with the respective form(s) as mentioned in
scheme guidelines.

c. In case of any problems identified in the above steps, the Supervisor must get the details
corrected through the AWW/Health Worker.

d. Ensure that all acknowledgements have been given to the beneficiaries.

e. Acknowledge the receipt of forms from AWW/ Health worker20.

4.2 Submission of the Form(s) at Project Office/ Health Block Office :

a. Submit the form(s) collected from all Anganwadi Centre/Health Facilities at the Project
Office/Health Block Office for further processing on the IT System.

b. Collect form(s) from the Project Office/Health Block Office that have been rejected by
the IT system so as to get them corrected through the respective Anganwadi Centre/ Health
Facility.

4.3 Monitoring Activities :

a. Collect the monthly reports/MPR from the AWWs/ASHAs/ANMs and submit a signed
copy to the Project Office/ Health Block Office.

b. Ensure that the AWWs/ASHAs maintain a record of the submitted monthly reports and
sign against it ensuring that the report has been submitted by AWW/ASHAs/ANMs.

c. Collect the report Anganwadi Centre/ Village/ Health Facility on status of registration
in IT system and payment of beneficiaries from the Project Office/ Health Block Office. Give
a copy of the report to the respective AWWs/ASHAs/ANMs and retain a copy for records21.

4.4 Handling Exceptional Cases : As per the status report received from Project Office/
Health Block Office, ensure that necessary steps are taken by the AWW/ASHA for all

20
http://www.writeexpress.com/acknowledgment.htm.
21
http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/strgrp12/str_womagency_childrights.pdf.

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beneficiaries whose registration or payment has failed due to incorrect or incomplete
information.

4.5 Grievance Handling and Escalation :

a. Solve all queries of the AWW/ASHA/ANM related to conditions and guidelines of the
scheme and keep a record of these queries.

b. For queries for which the Supervisor/ANM has limited knowledge or no knowledge like
the payment status of a particular beneficiary, get relevant information from the Project
Office/ Health Block Office and inform the AWW/ ASHA at the earliest.

4.6 Proper maintenance of record : The records are maintained in the same way as in the case
of ASHA/ANM and AWW22.

5. Roles and Responsibilities officer at Block/Project level implementing

PMMVY

5.1 General Responsibilities :

a. Plan and manage the successful scheme operation at the block/Project level.

b. Ensure the availability of IT Systems (Hardware and Internet Connectivity), qualified

personnel for data entry, and Stationery (Beneficiary Form(s), PMMVY Registers etc.) at the
Block Level and with supervisors and Anganwadi centres.

c. Ensure proper and regular training is provided on the scheme to all the personnel
associated with the system.

d. Prepare budgetary projections for their block/Project and submit to the respective district
nodal officer.

e. Coordinate with all respective stakeholders at the Block/ Project Level to ensure the
success of the scheme and ensure all activities of the Block Level PMMVY Cell are carried
out properly.

f. Inform the District Nodal Officer in case of leaves of absence, in order to maintain tight
control of access to the software solution.

22
(21, 2020), https://finance.odisha.gov.in/Budgets/Annual_Budget/Economic_Survey.pdf.

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 5.2 Collection of Form(s) from Supervisor/ANM :

a. Consolidate the form(s) from the Supervisors and organize them in Anganwadi/Health
facility wise bundles for ease of data entry.

b. Check that the form(s) are duly signed by the supervisors and all required documents
are attached before data entry. If a form is not signed, the form must be immediately returned
to the Supervisor for completion and re-submission.

5.3 Data Entry in PMMVY System :

a. Enter the data from the form(s) into the system. The data must be entered from the
photocopies attached as far as possible, especially Aadhaar/ ID Number, Bank Office / Post
Office account number.

b. In case of any unresolved discrepancy between the filled form(s) and the photo copies,
must be returned to Supervisors/ANMs for corrective action23.

c. In case only Form 1-B or Form 1-C of a beneficiary, who is not registered in the system,
are received, return the form(s) to the Supervisor/ ANM with the reason of incomplete
documents. It is mandatory to fill Registration Form for any new beneficiary under the
scheme irrespective of the instalment being claimed.

d. If a beneficiary comes for re-registration (cases of still birth or miscarriage or any other
reason), check that the husband name and ID is the same as recorded in the system. If not, the
form must be rejected.

e. Before sanctioning, the details may be rechecked and update the discrepancies.

5.4 Updating Beneficiary Details in System :

a. For the records which are rejected and become part of the correction queue, cross check
the details of the list of beneficiaries in the correction queue with their documents and make
required changes.

b. In case of UIDAI and PFMS verification errorsin a beneficiary record, write the
rejection reason captured in the software on the physical form of the beneficiary.

c. Update the correct details of beneficiaries in correction queue after updated details are
received from the Supervisor/ANMs.
23
https://www.hngpl.in/Admin/Attachments/Vol1web.pdf.

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 d. Make update in beneficiary details in the system, if Beneficiary Details Update Form 3
is received for any beneficiary from the supervisors/ANMs.

e. Update beneficiary exit cases based on Anganwadi wise monthly reports received from
supervisors/ ANMs.

5.5 Approvals of Beneficiary Registration and Instalment Claims :

a. Regularly log into the PMMVY software application and approve the registrations and
instalment claims of the beneficiaries after verification of data entered.

b. Cross check if the data entered matches the physical form(s) received especially for the
exceptional cases.

c. Reject the registration records of the beneficiaries, which are found to be erroneous and
provide guidance on rectifications.

d. All the approved records must fulfil the conditions laid down in the scheme guidelines.

5.6 Reports Generation :

a. Generate an Anganwadi Centre/ Village wise registration and payment status report and
handover to respective Supervisor/ANM.

b. For any report generated Aadhaar Number of beneficiary should be masked in xxxx
xxxx 1234 format.

5.7 Storage of Physical Form(s) :

a. All the original physical form(s) and monthly reports which have been entered in the
system must be stored/need to be stored in a safe place by the officials in possession of the
document(Field Functionaries, CDPO/MO) and will be shared/ transferred with/to an
authorized personnel only, if the sharing/transfer is justified under the guidelines of the
scheme24.

b. Make Anganwadi Centre/ Health Facility wise bundles of form(s) and keep them safely
under lock and key.

c. The documents should be shredded after two years from the date of archiving of
document.

24
http://www.hkrdb.kar.nic.in/documents/Downloads/Government.

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 d. Aadhaar and Bank/ Post Office details of any beneficiary must never be made accessible
to any unauthorized person. All physical documents with Aadhaar details must be kept
confidential.

5.8 Periodic Review of PMMVY Implementation : Conduct field visits to Anganwadi

Centres/ Health facilities on a quarterly basis and check a random sample of records to ensure
that all registers and reports are maintained regularly in required formats25.

5.9 Grievance Handling and Escalation :

a. Analyse the nature of issues and organize sessions for field functionaries for recurring
problems.

b. Report any system related issues to the state level helpdesk if they can’t be resolved
through the user manual.

6. Roles and Responsibilities of District Nodal Officer (DNO)

6.1 General Responsibilities :

a. Plan and administer the scheme operation at the district level.

b. Ensure the availability of IT Systems (Hardware and Internet Connectivity), appropriate

data, and qualified personnel.

c. Coordinate all activities of the District Level PMMVY Cell and ensure implementation
ofthe action items.

6.2 Setup in the PMMVY System :

a. Maintain the block/Project level information in the system along with mapping it with
the Field Functionaries within their district26.

b. Coordinate any requirements related to technical support with the state technical team.

6.3 Grievance Handling :

a. Ensure all cases escalated to him are cleared on a fortnightly basis.

25
(10, 2009), http://mpplanningcommission.gov.in/annualplan/AP.
26
http://wcddel.in/RTImanuals/RTI-wcd-2.rtf.

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 b. Ensure all queries and cases outside his functional jurisdiction should be brought to the
attention of the State/UT Nodal Officer.

7. Roles and Responsibilities of State/UT Nodal Officer (SNO)

7.1 General Responsibilities :

a. Serve as the focal person for the scheme at the State/UT level.

b. Plan and administer the scheme at the State/UT level27.

c. Ensure timely and adequate availability of personnel, IT and other resources for the
smooth operations and submission of monthly report in Form 5-A.

d. Address any issues arising from the old MBP (IGMSY) scheme and rollover of the cases
to PMMVY as per scheme guidelines.

e. In the event of handing over of charge, orientthe new officer who would be taking
overthe responsibility for this position.

7.2 Initial Activities for Launch of PMMVY :

a. Plan and implement comprehensive training of all field personnel regarding the PMMVY
Scheme and PMMVY-CAS, including identification of master trainers at the State/UT level
and getting them geared for state level training and technical support28.

b. Setup and Coordinate all activities of the State/UT Level PMMVY Cell.

7.3 Payments and Fund Management :

a. Manage district wise budgeting exercises for the entire State/UT, including re-
appropriation of budgets.

b. Process payments to beneficiaries in the PMMVY-CAS and PFMS.

7.4 Grievance Handling and Escalation :

a. Analyse problems encountered and recommend systemic solutions.

b. Manage the State/UT Level Technical Support Desk for the system.

8. Roles and Responsibilities of Central Nodal Officer (CNO)

27
http://wcddel.in/RTI%20manuals/RTI-wcd-2.rtf
28
https://www.scribd.com/document/373120913/PMMVY-Scheme-Implementation-Guidelines-MWCD-1-0

16 | P a g e
8.1 General Responsibilities :

a. Serve as the focal person for the scheme at the national level.

b. Plan and administer the scheme at the national level by coordinating with respective
State/UT Implementing Departments for Implementation of PMMVY Scheme29.

c. Ensure timely and adequate availability of all Central IT Infrastructure and Human
Resources for the smooth operations.

d. Ensure close coordination with the following agencies:

i. Respective State Implementing Departments for Implementation of PMMVY-CAS.

e. Conduct in-depth analysis of the scheme performance and provide guidance to the
States/UTsto ensure targeted performance levels.

f. Critically examine working of the solution and work towards closure of

unresolved,systemic and process issues.

8.2 Initial Setup of PMMVY Requirements :

a. Ensure all the State/UT Nodal Officers have created their respective State/UT Escrow
Account.

b. Ensure nomination of State/UT nodal officers in each of the States/UT.

8.3 PMMVY IT Solution related responsibilities :

a. Assign system management login ID and password to technical personnel handling the
IT solution and their regular monitoring.

b. Address any issues pertaining to the external agencies for the smooth functioning of the
PMMVY-CAS30.

c. Approve rectification of any data errors(and follow up actions thereon)resulting from

system malfunction or security breach requiring attention at the national level in consultation
with States/UTs, as per agreed protocols.

8.4 Payments and Fund Management :

a. Plan for the periodic Scheme Budget through national level budgeting exercises.
29
ibid
30
https://www.bis.org/cpmi/publ/d84.htm.

17 | P a g e
 b. Plan and organize for Scheme Funds Availability through coordination with IFD of
MWCD.

c. Ensure timely release of funds to respective States/UTs as per the scheme budget31.

d. Closely monitor and intervene for release of State’s/UT’s share of scheme funds.

e. Monitor the Funds Utilization by respective States/UTs and make timely budgetary
provision for the States/UTs depending upon their funds utilization.

8.5 Grievance Handling and Escalation :

a. Ensure all cases escalated to him are resolved on a timely basis.

b. Ensure successful management of the National Level Technical Support Desk for the
system.

FUND FLOW AND DISBURSAL MECHANISM

Assets under the Scheme are moved from MWCD through PFMS in committed Escrow
Account kept up by the State/UT at State/UT level. The State/UT will likewise credit their
individual offer to this Escrow account according to the cost sharing proportion between the
Center and State/UT. The store accessible in the committed Escrow account are intended for
move to the recipients under the plan. For no situation, the assets from this record ought to be
31
https://www.readkong.com/page/one-stop-centre-scheme-implementation-guidelines-for-state-9962516.

18 | P a g e
occupied for some other reason. The assets from this record are moved to the recipients
through PFMS32 in DBT33 mode.

To meet the authoritative and different uses the assets are additionally moved by MWCD to
the States/UTs according to schematic standards through PFMS in the State/UT treasury. The
State/UT in the wake of crediting their individual offers make it accessible to the Department
for smooth usage of the plan. The State/UT will guarantee that adequate store is kept up
retained record for making instalment to the recipients.

ESCROW ACCOUNT

To guarantee devoted and convenient accessibility of assets to the recipients, without

stopping of assets at the State/UT level, States/UTs will keep up a State/UT level Escrow
Account for the Scheme.34 The reserve move from Government of India and State/UT will be
to this record for the further exchange to recipient's record. The States/UTs subsequent to
opening the Escrow represent PMMVY present the detail to MWCD according to
recommended group mutually marked by the Secretary concerned and the bank authority.
MWCD moves the reserve to this devoted Escrow account. This record is compulsorily
required to be an escrow account and is opened in a bank according to directions gave by
Ministry of Finance for banking courses of action of the State/District Level Implementing
Agencies.

For commencement of instalment from the Escrow record to the recipients, the State/UTs
select a State/UT level Nodal official (NO) who acquires Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)
well ahead of time to process the instalment to recipients.35

32
https://pfms.nic.in/NewDefaultHome.aspx
33
https://dbtbharat.gov.in/
34
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/after-a-slow-start-all-states-uts-get-on-board-
for-pms-maternity-benefit-scheme/articleshow/65908497.cms?from=mdr
35
http://www.mca.gov.in/MinistryV2/digitalsignaturecertificate.html

19 | P a g e
Any adjustments in the approved signatory are in similarity with the financial guidelines. The
sum due for instalment to the qualified recipients on satisfaction of conditionalities is
accessible to the nodal official through PMMVY-CAS. To maintain a strategic distance from
delay, the Nodal official starts instalment to the recipients in any event two times every week.
The instalment to the recipients is made on 'first-in-first-out' premise.36

Authorizing Authority In States/UTs where the plan is being actualized by Department of

Women and Child Development/Social Welfare, CDPO, Anganwadi administrations will be
the supporting expert for instalment to be made to the qualified recipients satisfying the
conditionalities of the plan. He/she is liable for rightness of the rundown submitted for
instalment to power starting instalments at the State/UT level.

So also, in the States/UTs where the plan is being actualized by H&FW Department, the MO,
at Block level is the endorsing expert for instalment to be made to the qualified recipients
satisfying the conditionalities of the plan. He/she is liable for accuracy of the rundown
submitted for instalment to power starting instalment at the State/UT level.

All the instalments to the recipient is made distinctly through the Direct Benefit Transfer
(DBT) mode and started by the official who is the assigned proprietor of the escrow account
through PFMS.

PAYMENT MECHANISM

The State Government/UT Administration extends the quantity of imminent recipients and
their necessity of assets and submit it to MWCD by 31st December for the following
Financial Year. Based on the endorsement, Government of India discharges assets in four
quarterly portions for the usage of the PMMVY to the States/UTs. The initial two portions
are discharged on notional premise and resulting endless supply of Statement of Expenditure
by the State/UT dependent on the real use reflected in that.
36
Duties and Responsibilities of “Nodal Officer of Citizen’s Charter” in State Governments/ Union Territory
Administrations for Coordinating and Monitoring of Citizen’s Charter Initiative in State/ Union Territory  
https://goicharters.nic.in/duties_and_responsibilities_St.htm

20 | P a g e
QUALIFICATION CONDITIONS AND CONDITIONALITIES

Initially, all pregnant women of 19 years old or more were qualified for contingent money
move advantages of ₹5,000 (US$70) to paid in three portions, with the exception of the
individuals who get paid maternity leave. After the execution of National Food Security Act
the sum has been re-examined to ₹6,000 (US$84) to be paid in two portions of ₹3,000
(US$42) each. The money moves under the Scheme are dependent upon the accompanying
conditions:

The first exchange (at pregnancy trimester) of ₹1,000 (US$14) requires the mother to:

o Register pregnancy at the Anganwadi focus (AWC) at whatever point she comes to
think about her origination

o Attend at any rate one pre-birth care meeting and taking Iron-folic corrosive tablets
and

o Attend at any rate one guiding meeting at the AWC or medicinal services place.

• The second exchange (a half year of origination) of ₹2,000 (US$28) requires the
mother to:

o Attend at any rate one pre-birth care meeting and TT2

• The third exchange (three and a half months after conveyance) of ₹2,000 (US$28)
requires the mother to:

o Register the birth

o Immunize the youngster with OPV and BCG during childbirth, at about a month and a
half and at 10 weeks

o Attend at any rate two development observing meetings inside a quarter of a year of
conveyance

• Additionally, the plan requires the mother to:

21 | P a g e
o Exclusively breastfeed for a half year and present reciprocal taking care of as affirmed
by the mother,

o Immunize the youngster with OPV and DPT

o Attend at any rate two advising meetings on development checking and infant and kid
sustenance and taking care of between the third and 6th months after conveyance.

RECORDS, REPORTS, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Under the plan the structures contain delicate and individual data of recipient and her
significant other, for example, Aadhaar number 37, bank subtleties, clinical reports and so on.
Accordingly, such records, both in physical or electronic structure, are kept in guardianship
of approved work force just and for no situation can be made accessible in any structure to an
unapproved individual. The records containing individual subtleties of the recipient can never
be set on notice board for data of open.

GUIDELINES FOR RECORD RETENTION

a) All the physical structures/registers are put away in a sheltered spot by the authority
possessing the record (field functionaries, CDPO/MO, Supervisor/ANM and so on.) and will
be shared/moved with/to an approved work force just, if the sharing/move is advocated under
the rules of the plan.

b) The application structures got are wrecked following three years from date of chronicling
of these reports.

c)PMMVY Register might be held as long as 5 years and from that point the equivalent might
be demolished.

37
 "Aadhaar Dashboard". UIDAI. Retrieved 8th May 2020.

22 | P a g e
PMMVY REGISTER (MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORTS)

PMMVY register (to be opened each budgetary year) must be kept up at the AWC/Village by
AWW or by ASHA/ANM. This register is intended to track all recipients under a specific
AWC/ANM/ASHA region who have applied under the Scheme. This register gives the
month to month progress report of the plan which will be submitted to Supervisor/ANM.

REPORTS GENERATED FROM PMMVY-CAS

The reports produced from PMMVY-CAS will be sent to AWC/Village/Approved Health

Facility for updating of instalment subtleties, explanations behind dismissal of cases and so
on.

Monitoring and audit of the program will be finished by MWCD. Steering and Monitoring
Committees would be shaped at State/UT, District, Project and Village-level to guarantee
powerful usage of the Scheme. These will be sub-advisory groups of ICDS Committees and
individuals from Banking/Post Office might be included. Development of independent
PMMVY advisory groups at State/District/Project/Village-level would be at the prudence of
the States/UTs.

These councils will audit, screen and prompt on issues identifying with the execution of the
Scheme. They will audit progress of the plan and fortify the coordination and assembly
between concerned Departments, consider the bottlenecks looked during the execution of the
plan and propose adjustments required for improving the usage. The Committees should meet
according to course of events demonstrated in Annexure K or prior, if necessary, according to
the watchfulness of the Chairperson. Specialized specialists, NGOs or common society
gatherings may likewise be welcomed, whenever thought about suitable. Where the plan is
executed by other than Department of Women and Child Development, comparative
procedures will be trailed by the Department actualizing the PMMVY and Report will be sent
to Ministry of Women and Child Development by the actualizing Department of the State/UT
on a month to month premise.

23 | P a g e
 Access of the PMMVY executing programming and recipient's significant information
would be allowed to the checking/actualizing organizations.

SOCIAL AUDITS/ADDRESSING GRIEVANCES

A complaint can be characterized as any kind of discontent/disappointment, which should be

changed so as to realize the smooth working of the plan. Some characteristic instances of
complaints could be: I. No administrations gave by the AWW/ANM/ASHA. The States/UTs
may consider setting up a proper complaint redressal component at venture/Health square and
locale level for taking care of objections, deciding as far as possible and mindful units for
tending to grievances and making important move. Existing complaint redressal units, e.g.,
Collector's complaint redressal unit/Zila Parishad Council at locale level, might be considered
for tending to complaints identified with this Scheme.

Issues and complaints identified with the plan ought to be talked about in the gathering of the
Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committee (VHSNC) or Village-level PMMVY
Steering and Monitoring Committee and sent to the task level directing and checking council
for vital activity.38 Entitlements under the plan, qualification rules and rundown of recipients
ought to be glued at the AWC/Village to look after straightforwardness. It would be
guaranteed that Aadhaar, Bank/Post-Office account and other individual subtleties of
recipients are not made open as specified under its arrangements Act, 2000 and c

Further for Social Audits, the PMMVY ought to be a plan point during the Gram Sabhas. 39 At
every possible opportunity, extraordinary Women Gram Sabhas (Mahila Sabhas) might be
gathered by the Women Sarpanch/Panchayat part. During the Mahila Sabhas, names of the
PMMVY recipients ought to be educated to the network individuals by the Anganwadi
Worker/Member Secretary of Village-level PMMVY Steering and Monitoring Committee 40.
Delegates of Women SHG-Federations, Bank, Post office and District PMMVY Cell may
likewise be welcome to these gatherings. Mahila Sabha gatherings might be held two times
every year. In territories where Mahila Sabhas are not in presence, the PMMVY Steering and

38
"Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme". wcd.nic.in. Retrieved 13th May 2020.
39
 Benoy Banerjee; Irfaan Khan; Rajeev Kumar et al. (2006). "Chapter Eight: Local Governments". India
Constitution at Work: Textbook in Political Science for Class XI. National Council of Educational Research
and Training. ISBN 81-7450-550-4. Retrieved 11th May 2020.
40
 Sapra, Ipsita (February 2013). "Living in the villages". Rural Democracy. D+C Development and
Cooperation. Retrieved 24th May 2020.

24 | P a g e
Monitoring Committee at town level may hold such a gathering by welcoming network
individuals.

ASSESSMENT:

NITI Aayog41 will screen the Scheme each month. For an underlying time of two years after
the dispatch of the Scheme. Following a half year of reveal, a point by point assessment will
be done to bring mid-course remedies, assuming any.

For this reason, NITI Aayog will establish a PMMVY Technical Committee under
chairpersonship of CEO, NITI Aayog.

LIMIT BUILDING AND CONVERGENCE EXERCISE

Limit Building and Information Education and Communication (IEC) exercises:

a) Separate arrangements have been made under the plan at State/UT and District level
(State/UT PMMVY Cell and District PMMVY Cell) for each State/UT for Capacity Building
and IEC exercises.

b) All functionaries of PMMVY directly from State/UT level up to grass root laborers should
be sharpened on PMMVY. At every possible opportunity, these sharpening workshops ought
to be composed in coordination/together with the Health Department as wellbeing
administrations arrangement is a noteworthy piece of the PMMVY.

c) NIPCCD alongside its Regional Centres would arrange trainings, either through course
model, vertical preparing or as the States/UTs regard proper. NIPCCD would likewise
incorporate the PMMVY preparing in its customary activity and boost instructional classes of
all field functionaries under the plan.

d) State/UT ICDS and Health Departments through their preparation Institutes will guarantee
all concerned work force are prepared under the PMMVY.

e) Capacity building will incorporate preparing of PRI individuals.

41
 "Gazette of India: Re-constitution of NITI Aayog dated June 7, 2018" (PDF).

25 | P a g e
f) IEC exercises at segment/venture/locale level and State/UT level will be sorted out for
spreading mindfulness about the plan and sharpening all concerned. A one-page leaflet
illuminating the planned recipients about the plan, basis to be met to get the budgetary
advantages and instruments to get the cash and from whom and when might be viewed as
disseminated to the specialist organizations and recipients.

g) Advertisements as IEC might be utilized to spread mass mindfulness about the plan.

BETWEEN DEPARTMENTAL COMBINATION:

The usage of PMMVY requires close coordination with the accompanying Departments.
VHSND would be the stage for intermingling of administrations from various Departments.

a) Health Department: an) Ensuring MCP cards are accessible and utilized.

b) Ensuring convenient ANC of pregnant women and inoculation of youngster

c) Promote ANC done under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA).42

d) Promoting institutional conveyance, early inception of breastfeeding, colostrum taking

care of and elite breastfeeding for initial a half year.

e) Organizing sharpening and preparing programs for PMMVY for all concerned staff.

b) Panchayati Raj Institutions: an) Organizing people group mindfulness occasions.

b) Providing extra motivators to moms through their own assets.

c) Conducting social reviews/tending to complaints.

d) Ensuring enlistment of Child Birth

c) UIDAI: The recipients and their significant other without Aadhaar might be given Aadhaar
number.

d) Information/Public Relations Department: Publicity and mass reach through - All India
Radio, Song and Drama Division, Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP),
Division of Field Publicity, State IEC Bureau, Print Media, Regional TV channels, online life
and so on.43
42
 Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, https://pmsma.nhp.gov.in/about-scheme/
43
Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, http://www.davp.nic.in/

26 | P a g e
e) Lead State and District Post Office/Banks: For opening of JAM Account (Jan-Dhan
accounts seeded with Aadhaar and Mobile number) for PMMVY recipients and formulating
proper money move instrument for smooth exchanges in all the areas. 44

f) State Training Institutes/Medical Colleges for guaranteeing their preparation educational

plan remembers preparing for the PMMVY.

PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDANA YOJNA- A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

While the extensively fertile programme ensures maternity benefits to pregnant women and
lactating mothers, and is grossly supposed to be implemented in all the districts of India,
under the national food security act, 2013, the scheme is not devoid of loopholes that hurdle
the efficient implementation of the programme.

From contradictions to the very national food security act, to restrictions that presses on
narrowing the ambit of the beneficiaries, the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna ransacks
its very own success implementation.

Apart from this, Plainly, the two significant issues of the plan are an absence of mindfulness
in residents, joined with misadministration on the lower levels. The administration must focus
on a broad exposure battle to bring issues to light about the plan. Those responsible for
circulating the plan must be kept on a more tightly chain to guarantee no debasement keeping
mothers from getting to benefits because of them.

Undernutrition among women and kids is a significant issue in India. Undernourished

mothers will bring forth undernourished kids. This absence of legitimate improvement at a
new born child stage is irreversible, prompting an entire life pattern of malnourishment.

44
 "Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana", pmjdy.gov.in

27 | P a g e
Because of social and financial misery, women quite often work through their pregnancies,
hampering their states of being. They likewise return to work before their body is prepared
for it looming their capacity to recuperate or to breastfeed their kids. This plan keeps such a
circumstance from emerging.

The scheme has undeniably failed to reach out even 49% of the mothers who have given birth
to their first child. It has only managed to bring under its ambit 23% of all births and pay
hardly 14% of them. If we look thoroughly, it appears that only 66% of pregnant women and
69% of nursing mothers are aware of the existing scheme. Surprisingly , only 8% of pregnant
women and 23% of nursing mothers have received the benefits of the scheme.45

To understand the devoid, lets take a look at the parent programme- National food security
act-

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into legal entitlements for
existing food security programmes of the Government of India. It includes the Midday Meal
Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament of
India which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India's 1.2
billion people. It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.46

Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements. The Midday Meal Scheme and
the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme are universal in nature whereas the PDS
will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily
free cereals.

The intent of the National Food Security Bill is spelled out in the Lok Sabha committee
report, The National Food Security Bill, 2011, Twenty Seventh Report, which states, "Food
security means availability of sufficient food grains to meet the domestic demand as well as
access, at the individual level, to adequate quantities of food at affordable prices." The report
adds, "The propose legislation marks a paradigm shift in addressing the problem of food
45
https://www.gktoday.in/answers/has-pradhan-mantri-matru-vandana-yojana-failed-to-tackle-the-problem/
46
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Food_Security_Act,_2013

28 | P a g e
security – from the current welfare approach to a right based approach. About two thirds
(approx. 67%) of the population will be entitled to receive subsidized food grains under
Targeted Public Distribution System. In a country where almost 40% of children are
undernourished the importance of the scheme increases significantly. The bill has been highly
controversial. It was introduced into India's parliament on 22 December 2011, promulgated
as a presidential ordinance on 5 July 2013, and enacted into law on 12 September 2013

A PROGRAMME CRAMMED WITH LOOPHOLES?

On detailed analysis, the scheme is blatantly thronged with loopholes that form a hurdle in
the swift implementation of the programme. From being exclusive to limited age groups, to
being somehow discriminatory, from the lengthy registration process, to failed
implementation, we further analyse the programme:

 Contradiction with the National Food Security Act-

Being the parent scheme, national food security act emphasises on providing the affected
woman with a minimum of rupees 600047. However, the very sub branch of the scheme,
PMMVY, instead of an improved approach, it reduces the government by a thousand rupees,
making the benefit provided just 5000 rupees. While the process of childbirth and pregnancy
as a whole is highly nutrition demanding, the women in the very lower base of the chart
suffer from non-availability of the very basic needs and even with the benefit of 6000, the
ends do not really meet, lessening the benefits only adds to their ailments. It has been found
that a pregnant woman on an average has to bear a burden of 8272 rupees, thus, a further
decrease in the benefits makes the programme highly inefficient.

Highly Exclusive-

The pregnancy cycle has comparative impacts and ladies are inclined to comparative
maternity issues be it the absolute first pregnancy or whatever the successive number might
be. With an accomplished pregnancy, the female body doesn't decrease the pregnancy disease
whenever and the body endures and experiences the equivalent difficult procedure,
inevitably. The possibility of the plan to give the advantage to just the primary living
youngster, appears to have less rhyme or reason, for the accompanying reasons:

47
https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=181761

29 | P a g e
High Fertility Rate-India has one of the highest fertility rates in the word. With a country
having the total fertility rate as high as 2.3348, which increases the chances of conception, as
the chances of conceiving a baby increases, PMMVY, fails to work in the Indian setting.
With higher probability of giving birth to another child, the benefit only helps the women
with their first child, while ignores the consecutive childbirths. The scheme here gets highly
impractical as Indians have high chances of having more than one pregnancy and the scheme
restricts to the use of the benefit in just the very first instalment.

Failed delivery- Moreover, what about when a woman suffers miscarriage? Further, the
government of India is well aware of high infant mortality rate in India. The scheme here
seems toi get more and more questionable. Suppose, a woman avails the benefit during her
first pregnancy, while exhausting her only chance to avail the benefit. Later on, that turns out
to be a failed pregnancy and she suffers miscarriage. She won’t be able to make use of the
scheme the next time she gets pregnant.49

The high infant mortality rate50 also raises the question of the effectiveness of the scheme.
While it is fully to the awareness of the government body that children are at a higher
probability to die while still an infant, yet, providing women with only one chance to make
use of the benefit seems to be highly impractical. The scheme should have rather provided
women with the option of second or even third instalment of the scheme in their next
pregnancy. This could have helped them make use of the scheme for their next pregnancy had
their previous been a failed one. This thus neglects more than half of the childbirths in India,
as the first-birth pregnancies account only 43% in India.51 The scheme somewhere seems to
be a fail

The age barrier- PMMVY, a scheme framed only for women above the age of 18 52. the
government initiative seems to have excluded women below the age of 18, which to no
question is the age group prone to higher risks. The female body fully develops for pregnancy
only after attaining the age of 18. In case a woman conceives below this age, the whole
process of pregnancy get even more tiring and full of ailments, not only to the mother but
48
https://www.statista.com/statistics/271309/fertility-rate-in-india/
49
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-mother-of-non-issues-on-maternity-
entitlements/article30009380.ece
50
https://www.theweek.in/news/health/2019/05/31/mp-records-india-highest-infant-mortality-rate-15th-
straight-year.html
51
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/mothers-of-57-newborns-not-entitled-to-maternity-benefits-
61737
52
https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/PMMVY%20Scheme%20Implementation%20Guidelines%20-%20MWCD
%20%281%29_0.pdf

30 | P a g e
also the child. This group thus requires even more government attention. However, this age
group has been completely neglected in the scheme despite being the one that should have
been specifically considered.

Single mothers- PMMVY is highly ignorant of single mothers- unwed mothers, deserted
wives or widows. Yet again, neglecting the very group that required special government
measures, the scheme is highly ignorant towards them. The complete process to avail the
benefit which in itself is cumbersome, the criteria to provide husband’s adhaar card details
adds up to benefits being more rigid to employ as women belonging to this group in most of
the times fail to present the required details and losing their chance to access the aid.
Therefore, the registration process should be given second thought to.

Newly wed pregnant woman- it is costumery in india for newlywed women who are
expecting to reside in their maternal home. However, the scheme requires of them to give
address proof of their marital home, which at times gets difficult to present.

Younger brides- According to the recent government data, 30-35% of Indian mothers are
below the age of 18. The legal age for women to marry is eighteen. Women who get married
below this age and are pregnant usually do get help extended from PMMVY as they do not
approach to get the benefits. These younger brides do not get their marriage registered
because of the legal age being eighteen which makes them even more hesitant. Thus, as the
scheme requires information about the husband, his Aadhaar details and his address, with no
registered marriage, the gain nothing from this scheme.

Women living on margins- Sex workers, migrants and women in coustody. Women living on
the margin are completely excluded.

“Is this scheme supportive or exclusionary and punitive. Eligible beneficiaries have to jump
through several hoops to claim their entitlement. Moreover, this is a woman’s right under the
National Food Security Act, 2013, why then insist on the husband’s identity proof,” said
Jashodhara Dasgupta, Feminist Policy Collective. She added that the documentation work is
likely to result in many women living on the margins, such as sex workers, women in
custody, migrant and those living in post-conflict situations unable to claim benefits even
though they are most in need of monetary compensation.

31 | P a g e
According to activists working at the grassroots level, The Maternity scheme namely the
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is exclusionary. Thus there is a growing
louder demand for a scheme that is truly universal.

OTHER ISSUES:

Ignorance- Dr. Rahul Hivare, in an interview, informed Home Times that in Mulund just 100
women have benefitted from the scheme while more than 3000 women who are its
beneficiaries, have still not taken the benefit as they are not aware of the scheme. plainly the
two significant issues of the plan are an absence of mindfulness in residents, joined with
misadministration on the lower levels. The administration must focus on a broad exposure
battle to bring issues to light about the plan. Those responsible for circulating the plan must
be kept on a more tightly chain to guarantee no debasement keeping mothers from getting to
benefits because of them.

The ignorance towards the programme can be inferred by the fact that in a recenet survey in
six states, only 22% of the women claimed that they got nourishment more than usual during
pregnancy with the help of this scheme.

The Jaccha-Baccha Survey (JABS)53 was conducted under the guidance of Ranchi
University professor Jean Dreze, and IIM-Ahmedabad associate professor Reetika Khera.
Their team surveyed a random sample of 706 women, 342 of whom were pregnant and 364
nursing. The survey was conducted in different districts of six most populous states and
performed poorly. The states included Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh. Within the six states, Uttar Pradesh, which is India’s
most populous, performed the worst, while Himachal Pradesh, performed the best. The
reason is supposedly said to be ignorance.

The ignorance is so high that only 66% of the eligible beneficiaries interviewed said they
were aware of the scheme, while only 60% applied.

According to an RTI response obtained by Khera and Dreze, 80 lakh women received at least
one instalment of PMMVY money between April 1, 2018, and July 31, 2019, and 50 lakh
received all three instalments. If this were to be extrapolated to 12 months, it would
correspond to 60 lakh and 37.5 lakh partial and full beneficiaries respectively in 2018-2019
53
https://www.indiaspend.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JABS-Briefing-Notes-all-in-one-18-Nov-2019.pdf

32 | P a g e
financial year. Based on an estimated population of 134 crores and a birth rate of 20.2 per
thousand, the annual number of births in India would be around 270 lakh. Of these, a little
less than half would be first births.

This implies that in 2018-19 only around 22% of all pregnant women received any PMMVY
money, and around 14% received the full benefits.

Lengthy documentation work- The ended up benefiting only 31% of the originally intended
beneficiaries. This data highlights the dire straits maternal care in the country is in. The
process is extreamly lengthy as benificiaries have to fill in 32 pages, requires linking of
aadhaar with bank account, aadhaar with post office and feedback form. Here arises a
loophole as many people face the problem of the spelling mismatch in their names in the
bank account and aadhaar card. Both the father and mother have to give separate undertaking
that they are the parents of the child. Another lengthy process involves the three installments
on the basis of meeting fixed criteria—at least one ante-natal check-up, early registration of
pregnancy, and child birth registration. All this involves a total of six application forms along
with as many as nine IDs- aadhaar card, voter card, ration card, identity proof, passbook,
mother and child protection card, marital address, etc.

Payment-related Challenges: The biggest challenge with regards to payments was to ensure
that they were processed on time and to receive a confirmation of payments made by banks
and PFMS. Additionally, standardization of error codes was done to mirror those in
theReserve Bank of India (RBI) and the PFMS Indian Financial Standard Code (IFSC)
master to ensure uniformity in correctiveaction to be taken. Further, efforts were made to
include all Rural/Co-operative banks in the payment framework.

State-specific Challenges: Certain States, like Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telangana havetheir
own schemes for delivery of maternity benefit. Integrating their existing systems within
PMMVY's platform has been a major challenge.
State governments have put in place effective maternity benefit schemes of their own. One
notable example is Tamil Nadu, the serial pioneer in the field of social security. Under the

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Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme, pregnant women in Tamil Nadu receive
financial assistance of ₹18,000 per child for the first two births, including a nutrition kit.
Odisha’s Mamata scheme also covers two births, albeit with lower entitlements — ₹5,000
per child, as with the PMMVY. The JABS survey suggests that the Mamata scheme is
working reasonably well: among women who had delivered in the last six months, 88% of
those eligible for Mamata benefits had applied, and 75% had received at least one of the two
instalments.

It would take very little to extend and consolidate these initiatives on a national basis. The
Modi government, however, is not interested. Nor, it seems, are the Opposition parties:
efforts to draw their attention to these issues earlier this year, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha
elections, made little headway. Even the Congress Party, chief sponsor of the NFSA, did not
mention maternity entitlements in its elaborate manifesto.

Benefits being credited to wrong accounts- One out of three benificiaries have faced the issue
where the benefits have been credited to the wrong bank account. This is also accompanied
by the issue where the money remains untraceable.54

NITI Ayog had conducted a poshan abhiyaan 55 releasing the report. “A substantial number of
payments (28% of all Aadhaar-based payments, of 31.29 lakh) are going to different bank
accounts than what had been provided by the beneficiaries. Sometimes these are even
untraceable by beneficiaries and field functionaries. It is a prime cause for dissatisfaction
among beneficiaries, which needs to be addressed on an urgent basis,” the report says about
the implementation of the scheme on the basis of the data collected until March 31, 2019.
66% of the direct benefit transfers were based on Aadhaar.

The report says a telephone survey of 5,525 beneficiaries, conducted by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development, revealed that only 60% were aware of the receipt of the
benefits and the bank accounts to which the money was transferred. Under the PMMVY,
pregnant women and lactating mothers receive ₹5,000 for their first child in three
instalments. Each tranche is released upon the beneficiaries meeting some conditions. The

54
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/one-in-three-payments-for-maternity-benefit-scheme-credited-
to-wrong-account/article30891111.ece
55
https://niti.gov.in/poshan-abhiyaan

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money is meant to compensate women for loss of wages, and is aimed at ensuring a healthy
nutritional development of the newborn.

THE WAY FORWARD?

 Firstly, the workers at grassroot level or the implementing body should make a
representation to the government of India talking about the problems and loopholes
that surround the programme. Mentioning the issues they face by implementing like
the ones discussed above- aadhaar issue, lengthy paperwork and so on.
 Secondly, the government should make the scheme more inclusive. Initiatives should
be made to make the scheme open to more age groups as well as women living on the
margins. As, in present, the high amount of restrictions limit the women that are able
to avail the benefits, in fact, the ones that need major initiatives.
 Thirdly, the benefits should be adequate. The further decrease in the benefit to five
thousand rupees only makes it inadequate. Also, the benefits should be in alignment
to the prevailing wage provided to the women workers in India.

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