17-May-2017: Cabinet approves Pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Program

The Union Cabinet 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 isRs.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

  1. 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.
  2. 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 ₹ 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 ₹)

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 ₹ 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.

28-Feb-2017: India signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for US$ 63 Million for Tejaswini Project.

A Financing Agreement for IDA credit of US$ 63 million (equivalent) for the “Tejaswini” Socio-Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Project” was signed with the World Bank on 23rd February, 2017.

The project seeks to empower the adolescent girls with basic life skills and thereafter provide further opportunities to acquire market driven skill training or completion of secondary education, depending on the inclination of the beneficiary. The project will be delivered in 17 Districts of Jharkhand.

The project has three main components, (i) Expanding social, educational and economic opportunities (ii) Intensive service delivery and (iii) State capacity-building and implementation support.

About 680,000 adolescent girls and young women in the project Districts are expected to benefit from the program. The closing date for the project is 30th June, 2021.

24-Jan-2017: Child Vulnerability map forms part of National Action Plan for Children

A district-wise map depicting problems facing children in the country was released as part of the ‘National Plan of Action for Children’ launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

"Child Vulnerability Map" is prepared by NGO Childline India Foundation. It covers 409 of total 678 districts in the country and shows prevalence of various issues affecting children therein.

A digital version of the map is also in the offing.

Different factors that have been mapped include child marriage, child labour, child trafficking, missing and runway children, children affected by civil unrest, child sexual abuse, dropouts & low literacy rate, malnutrition, foeticide, HIV AIDS affected children.

According to the map, for example, child trafficking is most prevalent in states like Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

The worst-affected states in terms of malnutrition are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Several states in the north-eastern region also fare poorly in this aspect and these are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.

This is a planning tool. District officials will be able to match the various government services designed for children with the issues prevalent in that area.

24-Jan-2017: National Action Plan for Children, 2016 released by WCD Ministry

National Action Plan for Children, 2016 (NPAC) was launched at a special function held to celebrate the National Girl Child Day in New Delhi.

The NPAC has been developed by the Ministry of Women & Child Development. It seeks to ensure the following:

The Action Plan has four key priority areas; survival, health and nutrition; education and development; protection and participation.

The NPAC  defines objectives, sub-objectives, strategies , action points and indicators for measuring progress under the four key priority areas and also identifies key stakeholders for the implementation of different strategies.

The plan also puts focus on new and emerging concerns for children such as online child abuse, children affected by  natural and man-made disasters and climate change, etc.

The strategies and action points largely draw upon the existing programmes and schemes of various Ministries/Departments. However, for new and emerging issues related to children; it also suggests formulation of new programmes and strategies, as required.

The plan takes into account the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides a roadmap towards achieving them though co-ordination and convergence with different stakeholders.

The National Policy for Children (2013) provides for formation of a National Co-ordination and Action Group (NCAG) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development to coordinate and implement the plan and monitor the progress with other Ministries concerned as its members.