- Maternity benefits were received by nearly 3.9 crore women in the past eight years
- Scheme cost the government close to ₹18,000 crore
- Aimed at helping the interests of mothers and children
According to the Union Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry, as much as 3.9 crore women have benefited from the maternity benefit scheme in the last eight years with a total outlay of nearly ₹18,000 crores toward the scheme.
Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, told the Upper House of Parliament that the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, which is meant to provide maternity benefits to pregnant women, "has been grossly underfunded" and "entitlement cuts have been made for the beneficiaries."
To this, the Ministry replied on X "From 2010 to 2014, approximately 1.6 million women received maternity benefits to the tune of Rs 730 crore," and asserted again, "Since 2017, maternity benefits under this scheme have been conferred to 390 lakh women costing nearly about 18,000 crore," referring to the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
Addressing the House on Wednesday during Zero Hour, Gandhi expressed her opinion that the number of beneficiaries under the scheme has drastically dwindled, and went on a tirade as to why against the government.
She reminded the House that the National Food Security Act was passed in the year 2013, during the time of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, thereby giving credence to welfare programs such as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, which supplied free food grains to 81 crore individuals.
