- Women and Child Development Minister reviews expenditure details and schemes for the financial year 2025-26
Women and Child Development Minister Smt. Laxmi Rajwade said that every rupee received by the department is for the welfare of women and children. Therefore, complete transparency should be maintained in expenditures and the benefits of schemes should reach 100% of eligible beneficiaries. She said that negligence at any level will not be tolerated. Minister Smt. Rajwade was reviewing the annual expenditure statement and progress of schemes for the financial year 2025-26 at the Ministry’s Mahanadi Bhawan.
In the meeting, Minister Smt. Rajwade expressed satisfaction over the expenditure of 89 percent of the total budget allocated to the department so far and directed that timely utilization of the approved amount should be ensured in all the districts. While reviewing the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, she said that timely payment of installments to all eligible women should be ensured. She inquired about the progress of upgradation works of Anganwadi centres under Saksham Anganwadi Yojana and directed to complete all the works with quality by the year 2026.
During the review of the nutrition campaign, Minister Smt. Rajwade asked to ensure real time data entry in the ‘nutrition tracker’ to reduce the number of severely malnourished children. Also, for better implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, she gave instructions to widely publicize the scheme in all the district hospitals, community health centers and health institutions of the state, so that every eligible pregnant woman can get its benefits. She informed that Chhattisgarh has been at the first place in the country in the successful implementation of this scheme and praised the departmental officers for this.
Mrs. Rajwade directed all District Program Officers to review expenditures every 15 days at the district level and send monthly reports to the state level. Quarterly reviews will be conducted at the state level. She clarified that the budget allocation should be spent directly on beneficiary-oriented schemes. Emphasizing the need to increase field visits, she emphasized the need to inspect ground realities, not just paperwork. She also directed the organization of special camps to promote the marketing of products manufactured by women self-help groups.
Minister Smt. Rajwade directed to expedite the process of obtaining grants for the schemes funded by the Government of India by establishing timely coordination with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, New Delhi.
Director of Women and Child Development Department Dr. Renuka Srivastava, Joint Director, all Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors and other officers and employees were present in the meeting.