Rajasthan to give financial aid to mums, pregnant women

Rajasthan Women and Child Development Department has rolled out the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under which all pregnant women and lactating mothers in the state will get financial aid during their first pregnancy.

Beneficiaries will get Rs 5,000 in three instalments — first during the early registration of pregnancy, second after six months on at least one antenatal check-up, and the last one during the first cycle of the child's immunisation.

Given that many women do not visit Anganwadi centres for antenatal check-ups for fear of losing on a day's wage, the government rolled out the PMMVY scheme. "We see that financial loss matters more to them compared to health, So there was a need to compensate their financial loss in order to motivate them to visit Anganwadi or health centres," Manoj Jain, Additional Director (Nutrition) at Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) said.