Union Minister of Women & Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani gave away the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) awards to States, Union Territories and Districts for best performance at a function in New Delhi today.
In the category of best performance since inception of the Scheme to States/ UTs having a population of more than 1 crore the first position was awarded to the State of Madhya Pradesh, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Haryana was in the third position.
In the same category, among States/ UTs having a population of less than 1 crore Dadra & Nagar Haveli is in the first position. Himachal stood second and Chandigarh is at the third position.
District-level awards for States/ UTs with a population of more than 1 crore the first position went to Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh is in the second position and South Salmara Mankachar in Assam was third.
Among the districts of States/ UTs having a population of less than 1 crore the first position went to Serchhip in Mizoram, second position to Una in Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry were in the third position.
The second category of awards was announced for performance by States/ UTs during the Matru Vandana Saptah (MVS) held from 2nd to 8th December 2019. The objective of observing MVS was to increase the implementation of the Scheme and create a healthy competition amongst States/ UTs. The theme of the Saptah was “towards building a healthy nation – Surakshit Janani, ViksitDharini”.
Among the States/ UTs having population more than 1 crore, the first position for outstanding performance went to Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra stood second and Madhya Pradesh came third.
The States/ UTs having population of less than one crore, who were recognized for their outstanding performance during the Matru Vandana Saptah were Dadra & Nagar Haveli which was first, Sikkim came second and Manipur third.
During her address at the award function, Smriti Zubin Irani, said that 1.28 crore beneficiaries received Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) directly in their bank accounts amounting to Rs. 5280 crore. The success of the implementation of the Scheme by Tamil Nadu, Assam, Tripura and Manipur proved that nothing is impossible if the district administration, States and the Central Government decide to work together for the outreach of any scheme said the Minister. She informed that 2.78 lakh applications were received on a single day during the Matru Vandana Saptah which was held from 2nd to 8th December last year. She further stated that the efficiency in the implementation of the Scheme which was 38% in 2018 has touched the 90% mark in 2019. WCD Minister appealed to all the functionaries under the Scheme to achieve 100 per cent target in 2020 and to ensure that no women and children are left out of the Scheme.
WCD Minister further informed that the PMMVY is different from the previous Scheme as beneficiaries get the money directly in their accounts and they can claim benefits of the Scheme from anywhere in the country as it is linked with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).In the earlier scheme, it would take 18 months to 3 years for the beneficiaries to get the money whereas in the PMMVY it is instantaneous, transparent and based on good governance practices informed the Minister.
Smriti Zubin Irani urged the participants to do Jan Andolan in the districts to awaken people about the risks faced by young girls who are entering into motherhood. Stating that POSHAN Maah will be observed in March 2020, she also suggested organizing POSHAN panchayats in every village to explain the importance of nutritious food, ill effects of anaemia, the importance of sanitation and observing cleanliness and vaccination of mother and child. The Minister also suggested exploring the possibility of POSHAN monitor in every government school and a POSHAN garden in every Anganwadi centre.
The PMMVY is a maternity benefit programme being implemented in all districts of the country from 01.01.2017. Under PMMVY a cash incentive of Rs. 5000 is provided directly to the bank/ post office account of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) for the first living child of the family subject to fulfilling specific conditions relating to maternal and child health.
PMMVY is implemented using the platform of Anganwadi Services Scheme of Umbrella ICDS under the WCD Ministry in respect of States/ UTs implementing scheme through Women and Child Development Department/ Social Welfare Department and through the health system in respect of States/ UTs where the scheme is implemented by Health and Family Welfare Department.
PMMVY is implemented through a centrally deployed web-based MIS software application and the focal point of implementation is the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) and ASHA/ANM.
A booklet on FAQs and a report on Matru Vandana Saptah- 2019 were released by the Minister during the function. Secretary, WCD, Ravindra Panwar and Member Health & Nutrition, NITI Aayog, Dr. Vinod Paul also spoke on this occasion.
Presentations were made on the best practices of awardee States and Union Territories. The ceremony was attended by the WCD Minister of the Madhya Pradesh Government, senior officials of the WCD Ministry and WCD, Social Welfare and Health Departments of States and Union Territories.
