NTR Baby Kit Scheme

What is the NTR Baby Kit Scheme?

NTR Baby Kit Scheme is a maternal and newborn health scheme of the Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, under which every mother who delivers in a government hospital or public health facility in the state receives one free kit of essential baby-care items at the time of discharge.

The scheme was first launched in July 2016, was discontinued for about four years, and has been revived by the state government with a sanctioned budget of about Rs 51.14 crore, with distribution reported to resume from July 2025 as per the government order.

Each kit is valued at about Rs 1,410 and carries around 11 items. Reported contents are a mosquito-netted baby bed, baby clothes, baby soap, powder, baby oil, baby shampoo, napkins, towels, a waterproof cot sheet, a toy, and a hand-sanitising liquid for the mother.

The logic behind the kit is practical rather than symbolic. A poor household that has just had a baby faces immediate spending it did not budget for: clothes, a place for the baby to sleep away from the floor, a mosquito net, clean napkins. Those first purchases are exactly the ones that get skipped, and skipping them is how newborns end up sleeping unprotected in mosquito-borne disease season. Giving the items in kind, at discharge, puts them in the house on day one.

The kit also has a second purpose: encouraging institutional delivery. A delivery in a government hospital means a trained attendant, monitored labour, newborn weighing, immediate breastfeeding support and the first immunisation doses. Tying a visible free benefit to that choice nudges households away from home delivery.

Who is eligible for the NTR Baby Kit?

You will receive a kit if:

• You deliver in a government hospital or public health facility in Andhra Pradesh, a district hospital, area hospital, community health centre, primary health centre or government teaching hospital.
• Your delivery is recorded in the hospital's register with your admission details.
• You are present for discharge, when the kit is issued.

No income certificate, caste certificate or birth-order condition has been reported for the NTR Baby Kit. It is a universal in-kind benefit attached to the place of delivery.

You are not eligible if:

• You delivered in a private hospital or nursing home. Private deliveries cannot apply for the kit, and there is no cash equivalent offered in place of it.
• You delivered at home, without institutional care.
• You delivered outside Andhra Pradesh.

Families sometimes ask whether a mother who delivered in a private hospital can claim the kit later from the nearest government hospital. She cannot. The issue register is tied to the admission and discharge record of that facility.

What is inside the kit?

The published kit value is about Rs 1,410. Exact composition can vary slightly between procurement batches, so treat the list above as the reported standard rather than a guarantee of every item in every kit.

How to get the NTR Baby Kit

1. Register your pregnancy at your nearest Primary Health Centre, urban health centre or Anganwadi and get your MCP (Mother and Child Protection) card, so your antenatal care is on record.
2. Attend antenatal check-ups at the government facility. Free transport to the facility can be arranged by calling 102.
3. Deliver at a government hospital or public health facility in Andhra Pradesh, carrying your Aadhaar, MCP card and rice card for admission.
4. Collect the kit at discharge. Hospital staff issue the NTR Baby Kit against your admission number in the hospital's kit issue register. Sign the register and check that the items listed are actually in the bag before you leave the ward.
5. Keep your discharge summary and birth certificate, which you will need for immunisation, for the birth registration and for other newborn and maternal entitlements.

There is no online application, no form and no fee. Any website asking you to "apply online for the NTR Baby Kit" with a registration fee is not a government site.

How do I check whether the kit has been issued?

The record lives in the hospital, not on a portal. Ask the ward in-charge or the nursing superintendent to show the kit issue register entry against your admission number. If the register shows an issue you did not receive, raise it with the hospital superintendent on the spot, that is precisely the situation the register exists to catch.

ASHA workers and ANMs attached to your area also track deliveries in their registers and are a useful first point of contact if you are following up after discharge.

Common problems and how to fix them

• "Kits are out of stock." Ask the hospital superintendent to record your admission number for issue when the next batch arrives, and get that entry in writing. Stock shortages during a procurement cycle are the commonest reason a mother goes home empty-handed.
• Incomplete kit. Check the contents against the standard list before signing the register. Once you sign and leave, a shortfall is much harder to establish.
• Being asked for money. The kit is free. Report any demand to the superintendent, the District Medical and Health Officer, or on 1902.
• Discharged before the kit was issued, for instance after a night discharge. Return to the ward with your discharge summary and ask for the issue against your admission record.
• Referral delivery. If you were admitted at one government facility and referred to another for the delivery, the kit is issued by the facility where the delivery and discharge actually took place.

What other benefits go with the NTR Baby Kit?

NTR Baby Kit is an in-kind benefit and does not replace cash maternity support. A mother delivering in a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh should separately check her entitlement under:

• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). A cash delivery incentive for institutional delivery, with its own eligibility conditions.
• Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) — free delivery, free drugs, free diagnostics, free diet and free transport at public health facilities.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), central maternity benefit paid in instalments into the mother's bank account.
• Routine immunisation for the newborn, starting with the birth doses at the same facility.

Ask the ANM or the hospital's counselling desk to confirm which of these you qualify for while you are still admitted. It is far easier to complete the paperwork there than to chase it later.

Key dates

• July 2016: NTR Baby Kit Scheme first launched by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
• Discontinued for about four years following the change of government.
• Revived with a sanctioned budget of about Rs 51.14 crore, with distribution reported to begin from July 2025 as per the government order.
• Ongoing. The kit is issued at discharge throughout the year. There is no application window and no last date.

Where do I complain about the NTR Baby Kit?

• Hospital superintendent or nursing superintendent, for on-the-spot issues in the ward.
• District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) of your district, for repeated non-issue or stock failure.
• 104, the Andhra Pradesh health helpline, for health service complaints and advice.
• Spandana at spandana.ap.gov.in or the toll-free number 1902, for a formal grievance with a tracking number.
• Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department at hmfw.ap.gov.in.

The NTR Baby Kit is free, issued in kind, and given without any application. If someone asks you to pay or to "register online" for it, they are not acting for the Government of Andhra Pradesh.