Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the upcoming polls for the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly, the state government Tuesday decided to double the financial assistance under its MAMATA Yojana for pregnant and lactating women.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved a proposal in this regard. As per the decision, the financial assistance to the beneficiaries was increased to Rs 10,000 from Rs 5,000.
The assistance amount will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries in two instalments, a CMO release said.
While the first instalment of Rs 6,000 will be paid on the 6 months of pregnancy, the remaining Rs 4,000 will be paid after the child completes 10 months, it said.
The revised benefit will come into effect from August 2023. The beneficiaries will get their pending dues between February 20 and 25.
The state government in 2011 had launched the MAMATA scheme with the aim to reduce maternal mortality ratio (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and malnutrition.
All women above 19 years are eligible to get the benefits of the scheme for two children.
However, the women of 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) can avail the benefit for each pregnancy, the release said.
Around 60 lakh pregnant women have already benefited from the scheme in the state so far and the government has already paid Rs 2,900 crore to them.
PTI