Cabinet approves Pan India implementation of
Maternity Benefit Program
The
Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi has
given ex-post facto approval to Pan-India implementation of
Maternity
Benefit Program which now has been extended to all districts
of the
country w.e.f. 01.01.2017. The Prime Minister in his
address to the
nation on 31.12.2016 had announced Pan-India implementation
of Maternity
Benefit Program.
The Maternity Benefit Program will provide
compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so
that the
women can take adequate rest before and after delivery and
not be
deprived of proper nutrition.
The total cost of the proposal for
the period from 01.01.2017 to 31.03.2020 including Central
and State
Government share is Rs.12,661crore. Government of India's
share during
the period 01.01.2017 to 31.03.2020 comes to around Rs. 7932
crore.
Objective of the Scheme
- To
provide 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 first living child.
- The cash incentives
provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour
amongst the
Pregnant Women and Lactating Mother (PW&LM) to reduce the
effects of
under-nutrition namely stunting, wasting and other related
problems.
Target Group
All
eligible Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM),
excluding
the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who are in regular
employment
with the Central Government or State Government or Public
Sector
Undertakings or those who are in receipt of similar benefits
under any
law for the time being. It has been decided to give the
benefit of
Rs.5000/- to PW&LM in three installment for the birth of
the first
live child by MWCD and the remaining cash incentive as
per approved
norms towards Maternity Benefit under existing programmes
after
institutional delivery so that on an average, a woman will
get
Rs.6000/-.
Conditions and installments
Pregnant
Women and Lactating Mothers who are eligible will receive a
cash
benefit of Rs.5,000/- in three installment at the following
stages as
specified in the table given below:
| Cash Transfer | Conditions | Amount(in Rs.)
|
| First installment | · Early Registration of
Pregnancy. | 1,000/- |
| Second installment | · Received at least one
antenatal Check-up (after 6 months of pregnancy) | 2,000/- |
| Third installment | · Child birth is
registered.· Child has received first cycle
of BCG, OPV, DPT and Hepatitis-B or its
equivalent/substitute. |
2,000/- |
The
eligible beneficiaries would continue to receive the
remaining cash
incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit
under existing
programmes after institutional delivery so that on an
average, a woman
will get Rs. 6000/-.
Mode of cash transfer to the
Beneficiaries
The conditional cash transfer scheme would be in DBT mode.
Background:
The
Government of India is committed to ensure that every woman
gets
adequate support and health care during pregnancy and at the
time of
delivery and every newborn is immunized on time which is the
foundation
for better health of the mother and the newborn. Normally,
the first
pregnancy of a woman exposes her to new kinds of challenges
and stress
factors. Hence, the scheme intends to provide support to the
mother for
safe delivery and immunization of her first living child. The
improved
health care seeking behaviour of the PW&LM would lead to
better
health status for the mother and the child.
PIB
