The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)

The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)
Country	India
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Ministry	Ministry of Women and Child Development
Launched	2010
Status	Merged into National Food Security Act, 2013

The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) is a maternity benefit program run by the government of India. It was introduced in 2010 and is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for first two live births. It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices. In 2013, the scheme was brought under the National Food Security Act, 2013 to implement the provision of cash maternity benefit of ₹6,000 (US$89) stated in the Act.^[1] Presently, the scheme is implemented on a pilot basis in 53 selected districts and proposals are under consideration to scale it up to 200 additional 'high burden districts' in 2015-16.^[2]

About the Program

Objectives:^[3]

• Promoting appropriate practice, care and institutional service utilization during pregnancy, delivery and lactation
• Encouraging the women to follow (optimal) nutrition and feeding practices, including early and Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months; and
• Providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and lactating mothers.

IGMSY provides financial assistance as grant-in-aid to state governments.^[3]

Eligibility Conditions and Conditionalities

Originally, all pregnant women of 19 years of age and above were eligible for conditional cash transfer benefits of ₹4,000 (US$59) to paid in three installments, except those who receive paid maternity leave.^[4] After the implementation of National Food Security Act the amount has been revised to ₹6,000 (US$89) to be paid in two instalments of ₹3,000 (US$45) each. The cash transfers under the Scheme are subject to the following conditions:

• The first transfer (at the end of second birth / pregnancy trimester) of ₹3,000 (US$45) requires the mother to:
  • Register pregnancy at the Anganwadi centre (AWC) within four months of conception
  • Attend at least one prenatal care session and taking Iron-folic acid tablets and TT (tetanus toxoid injection), and
  • Attend at least one 3. counseling session at the AWC or healthcare centre.

• The second transfer (three months after delivery) of ₹3,000 (US$45) requires the mother to:
  • Register the birth
  • Immunize the child with OPV and BCG at birth, at six weeks and at 10 weeks
  • Attend at least two growth monitoring sessions within three months of delivery

• Additionally the scheme requires the mother to:
  • Exclusively breastfeed for six months and introduce complementary feeding as certified by the mother,
  • Immunize the child with OPV and DPT
  • Attend at least two counseling sessions on growth monitoring and infant and child nutrition and feeding between the third and sixth months after delivery.^[5]

However, studies suggest that these eligibility conditions and other conditionalities exclude a large number of women from receiving their entitlements.^[6]

See Also

• Welfare schemes for women in India
• Ministry of Women and Child Development (India)

References

1. "PUCL plea in SC questions delay in implementation". The Hindu. 2015-05-31. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
2. "India’s unrealised maternity entitlement". The Hindu. 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
3. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/20150928124326/http://wcd.nic.in/SchemeIgmsy/IGMSYImpGuidelinesApr11.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. "Ministry of Women and Child Development (India)".
5. "Press Information Bureau English Releases". Pib.nic.in. 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
6. "Report On The Study Of The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna". centreforequitystudies.org. Retrieved 27 September 2015.

External links

• Official website