Targeted at pregnant and lactating women, under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), these women receive INR 5,000 in three instalments on fulfilling conditions promoting healthcare-seeking behaviour, such as early pregnancy registration, antenatal care and child immunisation.
In 2019, the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, engaged us to evaluate various centrally sponsored programmes under the Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of India. The objective was to assess the impact, utility & processes for rationalising the programmes. As part of the project, we reviewed PMMVY, the Government of India’s most prominent social protection programme for pregnant women.
The evaluation used a mixed-method approach utilising both quantitative and qualitative data derived from secondary and primary data. It comprehensively analysed available literature, evaluations, and research studies in the WCD sector and its constituent programmes, especially PMMVY. Primary Data collection was conducted through Household Surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) from the village to national level to validate the findings from secondary data and to fill any gaps.
Key Recommendations
- Restructuring four overarching umbrella programmes
- Involving experienced technical experts for programme management at the delivery level
- Developing a real-time Monitoring Information System (MIS)
