Maharashtra govt launches ‘Mission Vatsalya’ special programme for women

Maharashtra govt has launched ‘Mission Vatsalya’ to help women who have lost their husbands due to COVID to provide a bunch of services under one roof.

• Mission Vatsalya will provide several services and some 18 benefits under one roof to those women.
• It been designed for widows, with special focus on widows coming from rural areas, poor backgrounds and deprived sections.
• Under this mission, schemes like Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana and Gharkul Yojana will benefit those for women.

Number of beneficiaries

• Amid the covid-19 pandemic, about 15,095 women lost their husbands in last 18 months.
• District Task Force has listed 14,661 such women in order to provide them benefits of the scheme.

Who is the nodal department to provide benefits?

• This mission is being implemented by women and child development (WCD) Department. Officers from WCD department, child development project officers, Anganwadi workers and local unit officers are visiting homes these women to provide them services. As of now, WCD department has reached out to 10,500 women.