Four in five expecting mothers in India deprived of government’s maternity benefits scheme

• Under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) scheme, the government extends ₹5,000 to the expecting mothers as the conditional compensation against wages.
  
• Merely 12% women received all three installments under the centre’s scheme — with Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh benefitting the most.
  
• A recent UNICEF report shows that the mortality rate in case of stillbirth and early deaths stood at almost 23 for every1,000 live births.

Four in five expecting mothers in India did not receive any assistance under the government’s maternity benefits scheme in 2018-19, Indiaspend reported citing the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) scheme, the government extends ₹5,000 to the expecting mothers as a conditional compensation against wages. However, this is applicable to first live birth only and is offered in three installments.

Merely 12% women received all three installments under the scheme — with Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh benefitting the most. This may also be due to the lack of awareness on — nutrition, rest, healthcare and medicines — among expecting and lactating mothers.

These latest findings are in line with that of Jaccha Baccha Survey which also said that more than 90% of pregnant women did not benefit under the PMMVY in five of the six surveyed states — Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Odisha women however benefited the most as over 65% of all its nursing women were covered under the ‘Mamata’ scheme, as per a recent survey.

According to a UN report, roughly 122 women in every 100,000 pregnant women in India succumbed to death during pregnancy or after childbirth during 2015-17. This is way higher than the UN’s target maternal mortality rate of 70 per 100,000 live births.

In addition to this, the country’s infant mortality rate stood at 33 per 1,000 live births — higher than that of the neighbouring nations Nepal, Bhutan and China. A recent UNICEF report shows that the mortality rate in case of stillbirth and early deaths stood at almost 23 for every1,000 live births.

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