Lok Sabha Question No. 24 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-02
Subject: Reproductive Rights of Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: T.N. Prathapan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 24

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2024

## REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF WOMEN

## 24.     SHRI T.N. PRATHAPAN:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)      the  number  of  women  receiving  benefits  under  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) scheme, since 2019, State-wise;
- (b)      the progress made under various schemes being implemented by the Ministry since  2019,  specifically  in  terms  of  various  health  indicators  among  rural women;
- (c)       the steps taken to address the need for reproductive rights, especially access to abortions among rural women; and
- (d)      the measures taken by the Government to address gaps in maternal and child healthcare, specifically the rural-urban gap in infant and child mortality?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) Under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), more than 3.78 crores beneficiaries have been enrolled since inception of the Scheme in 2017-18 and till 29.01.2024.  Further, maternity benefits of more than ₹14,758.87 crores have been disbursed to more than 3.29 crores beneficiaries during the aforesaid period.

The details of number of beneficiaries provided maternity benefits under the Pradhan Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana  (PMMVY) during the years 2018-19 to 2023-24 (till 29.01.2024) are Annexed .

(b)  to  (d)  As  per  the  information  provided  by  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare (MoHFW), the progress made on various key health indicators under the maternal health across the country including rural pregnant women are as under:

- As per the Sample Registration System (SRS), the country has witnessed a progressive reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) by 33 points from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20
- Antenatal check-up in 1 st  trimester has been increased from 58.6% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 70% in NFHS-5 (2019-21)
- Institutional births have been increased from 78.9% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 88.6% in NFHS-5 (2019-21)
- Birth attended by Skilled Health Personnel have been increased from 81.4% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 89.4% in NFHS-5 (2019-21)

The National Health Mission (NHM), provides support to the States/UTs for ensuring availability of safe abortion services. Following are the steps taken by MoHFW:

- i. Provision of funds to States/UTs for the operationalization of Comprehensive Abortion  Care  services  including  availability  of  drugs,  equipment,  capacity building, workshops along with printing of IEC material.
- ii. Supporting the States/UTs by issuing guidelines and training material.
- iii. Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021: Abortions in India are regulated under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.  This Act provides  for  the  provision  of  safe,  affordable,  accessible  and  acceptable abortion services to women to terminate pregnancy under certain conditions, and legalizes abortion on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian or social grounds. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, has been recently amended in 2021 for  expanding  base  of  beneficiaries  and  increasing  the  access  &  ambit  of women  for  safe  and  legal  services  for  reducing  unsafe  abortion  and  its consequent morbidity and mortality.

Further, under NHM, Government of India has implemented various schemes/programmes to address the gaps and improve the maternal health services including rural-urban women across all states/UTs of the country;

- Surakshit  Matritva  Aashwasan  (SUMAN) provides assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting public health facilities to end all preventable  maternal  and  newborn  deaths.  Since  inception  (2019),  38096 facilities have been notified under SUMAN initiatives.
- Under Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) , every pregnant woman is  entitled  to  free  delivery,  including  caesarean  section,  in  public  health institutions along with the provision of free transport, diagnostics, medicines, blood, other consumables & diet. During the last five years, more than 7.17 crore beneficiaries benefited under JSSK scheme in public health facilities.
- Pradhan Mantri  Surakshit  Matritva  Abhiyan  (PMSMA) provides  pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost assured and quality antenatal check up by a Specialist/Medical Officer on the 9 th  day of every month. During last five years, more than 2.77 crores beneficiaries benefited under PMSMA.
- o Extended PMSMA strategy  was  launched  to  ensure  quality  ANC  to pregnant women, especially to high-risk pregnancy (HRP) women and individual  HRP  tracking  till  a  safe  delivery  is  achieved  by  means  of financial incentivization for the identified high risk pregnant women and accompanying Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) for extra 3 visits over and above the PMSMA visit.
- LaQshya improves the quality of care in labour room and maternity operation theatres to ensure that pregnant women receive respectful and quality care during delivery and immediate post-partum. During last five years, 679 Labour Rooms and 526 Maternity Operation Theatres have been received LaQshya National certification.
- Janani  Suraksha  Yojana  (JSY) implemented  under  the  NHM  is  a  safe motherhood  intervention  promoting  institutional  delivery  among  pregnant women especially with weak socio-economic status i.e. women from Scheduled Castes,  Scheduled  Tribes  and  BPL  households.  However,  the  scheme  is available to all pregnant women in low performing States.

The  MoHFW  also  supports  all  States/UTs  in  implementation  of  Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child, Adolescent health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy under  NHM  based  on  the  Annual  Programme  Implementation  Plan  (APIP) submitted by States/UTs. All the interventions to child morbidity and mortality are being implemented universally in all the States/UTs without any discrimination on gender and geographical distribution. The details of interventions are as follows:

- Facility Based New-born Care: Special New-born Care Units (SNCUs) are established at District Hospital and Medical College level, New-born Stabilization  Units  (NBSUs)  are  established  at  First  Referral  Units  (FRUs)/ Community Health Centres (CHCs) for care of sick and small babies.
- Community Based care of New-born and Young Children: Under Home Based  New-born  Care  (HBNC)  and  Home-Based  Care  of  Young  Children (HBYC) program, home visits are performed by ASHAs to improve child rearing practices and to identify sick new-born and young children in the community.
- Social  Awareness  and  Actions  to  Neutralize  Pneumonia  Successfully (SAANS) initiatives  implemented  since  2019  for  reduction  of  childhood morbidity and mortality due to Pneumonia.
- Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK): Children from 0 to 18 years of age are screened for 32 health conditions (i.e. Diseases, Deficiencies, Defects and Developmental delay) under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) to improve child survival. District Early Intervention Centres (DEICs) at district health facility level are established for confirmation and management of children screened under RBSK.
- Intensified  Diarrhoea  Control  Fortnight/  Defeat  Diarrhoea  (D2) initiative implemented  for  promoting  ORS  and  Zinc  use  and  for  reducing  diarrhoeal deaths.
- Capacity  Building: Several capacity building  programs  of  health care providers  are  taken  up  of  improving  maternal  and  child  survival  and  health outcomes.
- *****

Statement referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question Number 24 for answer on 02.02.2024 raised by Shri T.N. Prathapan regarding 'Reproductive Rights of Women'

State/UT-wise  details  of  number  of  beneficiaries  provided  maternity  benefits under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) during the years 2018-19 to 2023-24 (till 29.01.2024)

0

0

1

0

0

| Sl. No.   | State/UT                    | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   | 2022-23   | 2023-24   |
|-----------|-----------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1         | Andaman And Nicobar Islands | 2,731     | 2,356     | 2,189     | 1,644     | 2,051     | 661       |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh              | 500361    | 5,12,648  | 2,92,094  | 39,226    | 4,98,446  | 1,06,248  |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh           | 5,680     | 9,320     | 8,529     | 4,204     | 5,611     | 863       |
| 4         | Assam                       | 135671    | 4,17,913  | 2,01,400  | 2,85,471  | 2,23,291  | 1,22,128  |
| 5         | Bihar                       | 241031    | 8,91,050  | 11,81,671 | 4,76,243  | 8,32,360  | 70,520    |
| 6         | Chandigarh                  | 9,286     | 9,449     | 7,986     | 8,119     | 8,743     | 1,305     |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh                | 170423    | 2,49,714  | 1,83,332  | 1,92,578  | 2,32,490  | 62,555    |
| 8         | Dadra And Nagar Haveli      | 3,256     | 4,472     | 3,314     | 4,795     | 6,107     | 2,505     |
| 9         | Daman And Diu               | 1,657     | 2,151     | 1,471     |           |           |           |
| 10        | Delhi                       | 69,574    | 1,04,221  | 80,607    | 1,26,853  | 1,02,254  | 26,821    |
| 11        | Goa                         | 7,472     | 6,372     | 6,187     | 4,217     | 6,724     | 1,594     |
| 12        | Gujarat                     | 3,33,800  | 4,07,896  | 1,62,926  | 93,330    | 2,97,845  | 41,608    |
| 13        | Haryana                     | 2,23,702  | 2,17,033  | 1,19,822  | 2,10,874  | 2,16,287  | 14,212    |
| 14        | Himachal Pradesh            | 78,031    | 81,449    | 67,530    | 66,039    | 62,920    | 10,210    |
| 15        | Jammu And Kashmir           | 69,253    | 85,801    | 60,380    | 1,11,946  | 83,251    | 13,905    |
| 16        | Jharkhand                   | 1,81,958  | 2,72,441  | 1,78,563  | 1,52,662  | 1,43,597  | 0         |
| 17        | Karnataka                   | 3,73,987  | 5,37,386  | 5,06,308  | 4,46,404  | 7,49,493  | 1,78,622  |
| 18        | Kerala                      | 2,14,082  | 2,73,181  | 2,16,813  | 2,88,397  | 2,36,924  | 47,602    |
| 19        | Ladakh*                     | 0         | 0         | 1,173     | 1,071     | 290       | 1,021     |
| 20        | Lakshadweep                 | 436       | 327       | 665       | 481       | 0         | 370       |
| 21        | Madhya Pradesh              | 9,48,643  | 9,79,547  | 9,33,964  | 9,10,109  | 9,50,226  | 2,73,892  |
| 22        | Maharashtra                 | 5,91,919  | 10,32,254 | 8,08,517  | 7,82,527  | 7,81,877  | 80,071    |
| 23        | Manipur                     | 7,577     | 23,979    | 16,442    | 8,353     | 7,847     | 5,833     |
| 24        | Meghalaya                   | 3,189     | 16,380    | 10,004    | 12,689    | 11,806    | 2,855     |
| 25        | Mizoram                     | 10,611    | 9,395     | 7,376     | 8,151     | 8,771     | 1,654     |
| 26        | Nagaland                    | 2,542     | 15,207    | 6,073     | 4,655     | 5,847     | 131       |
| 27        | Odisha                      | 5         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 28        | Puducherry                  | 8,023     | 10,553    | 6,477     | 9,139     | 9,179     | 1         |
| 29        | Punjab                      | 1,58,968  | 1,49,709  | 1,27,204  | 52,846    | 48,871    | 41,621    |
| 30        | Rajasthan                   | 6,15,068  | 5,35,006  | 4,51,863  | 4,76,509  | 5,58,542  | 1,38,245  |
| 31        | Sikkim                      | 3,891     | 4,632     | 3,219     | 2,668     | 3,273     | 981       |
| 33        | Telangana                   | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 34        | Tripura                     | 18,658    | 42,717    | 24,277    | 16,723    | 27,594    | 5,641     |
| 35        | Uttar Pradesh               | 11,87,314 | 16,42,844 | 13,02,623 | 9,89,646  | 16,97,574 | 1,39,314  |
| 36        | Uttarakhand                 | 58,814    | 75,827    | 80,994    | 71,952    | 21,280    | 33,602    |
| 37        | West Bengal                 | 3,06,145  | 4,86,151  | 11        | 2         | 8,83,177  | 0         |
|           | Total                       | 67,29,575 | 96,33,566 |           |           | 89,57,873 |           |
|           |                             |           |           | 75,31,575 | 61,35,226 |           | 17,52,571 |

The State Government of Odisha and Telangana are not implementing PMMVY.

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