Pradhan mantri replaces Indira in maternity scheme

NEW DELHI: The government has renamed the Matritva Sahyog Yojana — a scheme to give ₹6,000 to pregnant and lactating mothers for their first born child — as Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana, in yet another instance of the PM’s name prefixed to a government programme. The Union cabinet had cleared the scheme last week. Sources said the name was changed to make it more appealing. “The earlier name did not ring a bell. Many targeted beneficiaries were not even aware,” said a government official.

This is the second time that the scheme’s name has been changed. It was called the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana when it was launched in 2010 by the Union women and child development ministry. After coming to power in 2014, NDA government dropped ‘Indira Gandhi’ from the scheme.

PMMVY is the latest to be renamed. Since 2014, over a dozen schemes have been launched/ re-launched across ministries, that have been prefixed with Pradhan Mantri. These include the PM Dhan Yojana, PM Awas Yojana and PM Jeevan Jyoti Yojana among others.

“Unlike UPA era when programs were named after the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, the BJP led NDA government has mostly done away with the practice. Instead of naming schemes after some person, they are using Pradhan Mantri, which is a neutral term. The idea is to project the PM as the face associated with development,” said a BJP leader.