PRAGATI marks 50th milestone: PM Modi reviews maternity benefit scheme PMMVY, pushes for biometric reforms and women-led development

New Delhi [India], January 10 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently chaired the landmark 50th meeting of PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation), the flagship ICT-enabled platform launched in 2015, highlighting a decade of "transformative governance" that has accelerated infrastructure projects and welfare schemes worth over Rs 85 lakh crore.
During the session held on December 31, 2025, the Prime Minister reviewed the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), the maternity benefit scheme under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, sources said.
The scheme provides financial support to pregnant women and lactating mothers to compensate for wage loss, improve health, and promote better nutrition.
Under PMMVY, beneficiaries receive Rs. 5,000 in cash incentive for the first child and Rs. 6,000 for the second child if it is a girl.
Since its launch in January 2017, the scheme has disbursed maternity benefits to over 4.26 crore beneficiaries, amounting to more than Rs 20,060 crore through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Prime Minister Modi instructed all Ministries and Departments to ensure strict beneficiary identification via biometrics-based Aadhaar authentication. Mandatory biometric verification using the Facial Recognition System (FRS) was introduced from May 21, 2025, for all new enrolments. Leveraging the existing FRS on the Poshan Tracker app, over 23.60 lakh beneficiaries have already been enrolled through this secure system.
The Ministry has also taken proactive steps to identify potential beneficiaries by utilising the Poshan Tracker database to generate due lists, bringing services closer to the doorstep, the sources said.
The Prime Minister further directed exploration of integrating additional programmes focused on child care, health, hygiene, and nutrition to strengthen the scheme's impact.
These measures underscore the government's commitment to transparency, efficiency, and women-led development, empowering mothers to prioritise health and nutrition while aligning with the broader vision of inclusive growth, the sources said.
They said that as PRAGATI completes 50 meetings, it continues to exemplify outcome-driven governance, breaking silos and ensuring the timely delivery of public welfare initiatives across the nation.
The platform, which fosters cooperative federalism by uniting the Centre, States, and Ministries on a single digital interface, has "revolutionised real-time monitoring, issue resolution, and accountability in key developmental initiatives". (ANI)