Women & Child Development Schemes

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is a 100% centrally funded component of the Sambal sub-scheme of Mission Shakti, launched on 22 January 2015 to raise the Sex Ratio at Birth by 2 points a year. Districts receive Rs 20 lakh, Rs 30 lakh or Rs 40 lakh a year based on their SRB. BBBP pays no cash to individuals.

Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's integrated nutrition programme delivered through Anganwadi centres. It provides supplementary nutrition worth Rs 8 per day for children aged 6 to 72 months, Rs 12 for severely malnourished children and Rs 9.50 for pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls aged 14 to 18.

PMMVY is a maternity benefit scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development that pays Rs 5,000 for the first living child in two instalments of Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000, plus Rs 6,000 in a single instalment if the second child is a girl. Money reaches the Aadhaar-seeded account through DBT.

Sukanya Samriddhi Account is a small savings scheme for a girl child under 10 years, opened with as little as Rs 250 and up to Rs 1.5 lakh a year. Deposits run for 15 years, the account matures after 21 years, and the interest rate is 8.2% for the July-September 2026 quarter. Interest and maturity are tax-free.

Mission Shakti is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's umbrella scheme for women's safety, security and empowerment, running from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 20,989 crore. Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes, Sambal and Samarthya, covering 181 helpline, One Stop Centres, shelters, creches and maternity benefit. Women access services by dialling 181.

Mission Vatsalya is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's umbrella child protection scheme, which replaced the Integrated Child Protection Scheme. Mission Vatsalya funds Child Helpline 1098, Child Care Institutions, adoption, foster care and aftercare, and pays Rs 4,000 a month per child as sponsorship. Families apply through the District Child Protection Unit.

One Stop Centre, also called Sakhi, gives women affected by violence free medical aid, police help, legal aid, counselling and temporary shelter under one roof. Operating since 1 April 2015 and now a component of Mission Shakti, 969 One Stop Centres had assisted over 14.19 lakh women by 30 March 2026. Dial 181 or walk in.

PM CARES for Children supports children who lost both parents or their surviving parent or legal guardian to COVID-19. Each child gets a Rs 10 lakh corpus paid at age 23, a monthly stipend from 18 to 23, Rs 20,000 a year school scholarship and Rs 5 lakh PM-JAY health cover. Fresh enrolment is closed; contact your District Magistrate.

Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat is a Ministry of Women and Child Development campaign launched on 27 November 2024 to end child marriage in India by 2030, focused on 257 high-burden districts. Any citizen can report a child marriage free of cost on stopchildmarriage.wcd.gov.in or by calling the child helpline 1098.

Child Helpline 1098 is a free 24x7 emergency number for children in distress, run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under Mission Vatsalya and integrated with the police emergency number 112. All 36 states and union territories operate it, and any caller can dial 1098 without registration.

This Ministry of Women and Child Development internship gives women students, scholars, social activists and teachers from non-metro India short-term exposure to policy work on women and children. Interns receive a stipend of Rs 20,000 per month plus travel support, with up to 20 interns per batch across four terms a year. Apply online at wcd.intern.nic.in.

Nari Adalat is a village-level women's grievance forum under the Sambal sub-scheme of Mission Shakti, settling petty disputes faced by women through negotiation, mediation and reconciliation. Each Nari Adalat has 7 to 11 women members called Nyaya Sakhis, nominated by the gram panchayat. Nari Adalat began in 2023 in 50 gram panchayats each in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.

Palna is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's creche scheme under Mission Shakti, providing day care for children aged 6 months to 6 years so that mothers can work. Palna runs through Anganwadi-cum-Creches open about 7.5 hours a day for 26 days a month, with up to 25 children each; 3,130 were operational on 31 March 2026. Enrol at your Anganwadi.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is India's highest civilian honour for children, given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to citizens aged 5 to 18 for exceptional achievement in bravery, art and culture, environment, innovation, science and technology, social service, and sports. Each awardee receives a medal, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000. Nominate free at awards.gov.in.

SANKALP Hub for Empowerment of Women is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's single-window facility under Mission Shakti that tells women which government schemes they are entitled to and helps them claim them. SANKALP hubs work at 3 levels; national, state and district, are open to all women of any age, and charge nothing. Walk into the district hub.

SHe-Box is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's single-window online portal for complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace under the POSH Act 2013. SHe-Box was relaunched on 29 August 2024 and routes a complaint to the correct Internal or Local Committee, which must complete its inquiry in 90 days. Any working woman can file free at shebox.wcd.gov.in.

Sakhi Niwas is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's working women hostel scheme under Mission Shakti, offering safe, low-cost accommodation to working women earning up to Rs 50,000 a month in metropolitan cities and Rs 35,000 elsewhere. Sakhi Niwas allows a stay of up to 3 years and includes a day care centre for residents' children. Apply to the district hostel.

Shakti Sadan is the Ministry of Women and Child Development's integrated relief and rehabilitation home for women in distress, including trafficked women. Shakti Sadan merged the earlier Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala schemes under Mission Shakti and gives free shelter, food, medical care, legal aid and vocational training for up to 3 years. Admission is through the district authority, police or a One Stop Centre.

WISE-PDF is a post-doctoral fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology for women who hold a PhD, offered under the WISE-KIRAN umbrella for women in science. It is one of several women-only tracks that help women scientists return to research, often after a career break. Applications are made online through the DST e-PMS portal at onlinedst.gov.in.

Women Helpline 181 is a free 24x7x365 number for women in distress, run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under the Sambal vertical of Mission Shakti with 100% central funding. Running on short code 181 in 34 states and union territories, it has assisted over 81 lakh women. Just dial 181 to no registration.

Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER) is an initiative under the Ministry of Science and Technology to increase the participation of women in science and engineering research in India. It targets women scientists and researchers and is part of the government's broader set of women-in-science measures. Women researchers apply online through the sponsoring department's call for applications.

WIDUSHI is a DST programme that supports senior women scientists with a monthly fellowship of Rs 75,000 (Category A) or Rs 85,000 (Category B), a research grant of Rs 5 lakh a year and one research assistant, for up to 5 years. Applicants need a Ph.D., at least 2 R&D projects as Principal Investigator, and must be up to 62 years old.