Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)

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 stated in the Act.

Objectives

• 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.

Salient Features

• IGMSY is a Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme for pregnant and lactating women. The scheme attempts to partly compensate for wage loss to Pregnant & Lactating women both prior to and after delivery of the child.
• The beneficiaries are paid Rs. 6,000/- in 3 instalments per pregnant & lactating woman between the 2nd trimester and till the child attains the age of 6 months on fulfilling specific conditions related to maternal and child health. Being implemented on pilot basis in 53 selected districts using the platform of integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), 12.5 lakh pregnant & lactating women are expected to be covered every year under IGMSY.
• Pregnant women of 19 years of age and above for first 2 live births are eligible under the scheme.
• All organized sector employees are excluded from the Scheme as they are entitled for paid Maternity Leave. Under IGMSY scheme, transfer of amount to the beneficiary is done through bank/post office only.
• The modalities of cash transfer are decided by the State Governments/Union Territories.
• The modes of cash transfer include – nationalized bank, post office, cooperative bank, business correspondent model of bank, etc.
• IGMSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which amount is given as grant-inaid to state governments/union territories.
• The scheme is now covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme

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 to paid in three installments, except those who receive paid maternity leave. After the implementation of National Food Security Act the amount has been revised to ₹6,000 to be paid in two instalments of ₹3,000 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 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 counseling session at the AWC or healthcare centre.
• The second transfer (three months after delivery) of ₹3,000 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.

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