New Delhi, March 26 -- Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said the government's flagship programme to provide maternity benefits to pregnant women is "severely underfunded", resulting in a drastic fall in entitlements to beneficiaries.
Raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention in the Rajya Sabha, she said 'Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana' (PMMVY) has seen a drastic fall in the number of beneficiaries and asked the government why this was allowed to happen.
Gandhi said the National Food Security Act (NFSA), passed by Parliament in September 2013 under the leadership of the then prime minister Manmohan Singh in September 2013, has been the foundation for 'PM Garib Kalyan Yojana' (PMGKY), which was launched during Covid-19 to provide foodgrains to poor families. PMGKY currently has 81 crore beneficiaries.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.