Manipur CM pitches technology-driven maternity benefits at national summit in Delhi

Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on Friday highlighted the state’s initiatives to strengthen the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) at the national Departmental Summit on Women and Child Development in New Delhi.

Singh presented Manipur’s approaches to improving service delivery under the maternity benefit scheme during the two-day summit, which concluded on Friday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi participating in the valedictory session.

PMMVY is a flagship Direct Benefit Transfer scheme that provides financial assistance to eligible pregnant women and lactating mothers, particularly those from economically vulnerable sections. It also seeks to address gender bias by encouraging and supporting the birth of girl children.

During his presentation, Singh said the scheme had disbursed more than Rs 21,800 crore directly into the bank accounts of over 4.76 crore mothers across the country.

Emphasising timely delivery of benefits, the chief minister highlighted the benchmark that beneficiaries should receive payments within 30 days of submitting their applications. He stressed the need for coordination among departments and field-level functionaries to ensure applications are processed and payments released without unnecessary delays.

Singh also outlined technology-enabled measures introduced under PMMVY, including Aadhaar-based facial recognition to verify beneficiaries, a Due List mechanism through the Poshan Tracker to help Anganwadi Workers identify eligible women proactively, and a strengthened three-tier grievance redressal system.

The scheme’s Search and Track feature, he said, had further improved transparency by allowing beneficiaries to monitor their application and payment status.

Assam’s coordination model among practices highlighted

The summit also provided a platform for states to share practices that could be replicated elsewhere to improve the scheme’s implementation.

Singh cited Assam’s deployment of a dedicated team to strengthen day-to-day coordination with the State Finance Department. He also highlighted Jharkhand’s monthly district-wise and project-wise performance bulletins, Chhattisgarh’s daily open-house sessions to address operational issues, and Maharashtra’s digital database mapping Anganwadi Workers, supervisors and Child Development Project Officers.

These initiatives underline the importance of administrative coordination, regular monitoring, prompt grievance resolution and accurate databases in improving programme delivery, he said.

CM calls for better digital integration

Addressing implementation challenges, Singh stressed the need for stronger digital integration between PMMVY systems and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Such integration could enable access to relevant maternal and child health information, including dates related to the last menstrual period, antenatal care, delivery and vaccination, reducing repetitive documentation for beneficiaries.

He also called for a review of eligibility criteria to ensure that assistance reaches disadvantaged and vulnerable women who need it.

Highlighting the PMMVY Toolkit developed by the Ministry, Singh said it provided practical, step-by-step guidance and application screenshots for Anganwadi Workers and supervisory officials. He urged states to translate the toolkit into regional languages and disseminate it widely among frontline workers to improve their capacity to implement the scheme.

The deliberations also covered the migration of PMMVY payments to the SNA-SPARSH mechanism and the integration of the scheme’s portal with the Integrated Financial Management Information System of states and Union Territories.

Singh emphasised close coordination between State Women and Child Development Departments and Finance Departments to ensure a smooth flow of funds and timely payments.

Concluding his presentation, the chief minister called for stronger inter-departmental coordination, improved digital systems, effective grievance redressal and wider adoption of successful state-level practices. He urged states and Union Territories to work towards saturation coverage so that every eligible woman can access the benefits available under PMMVY.

The two-day summit began on October 8 and concluded on October 9 in New Delhi.