India, March 26 -- Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the government in the Rajya Sabha, accusing it of "severely underfunding" the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which provides maternity benefits to pregnant women. She said this neglect has led to a drastic fall in entitlements and questioned why the government allowed such a situation to arise.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi reminded the House that under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) passed in 2013 during the UPA regime, pregnant women were entitled to Rs 6,000 per child. The PMMVY, launched in 2017 to fulfill this entitlement, only provides Rs 5,000 for the first child and extends benefits ...