Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on Tuesday, 9 June 2026 marked the 10th anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), highlighting steep declines in maternal and child mortality that he said outpace the global average, and renewing the government's commitment to accelerate the scheme further.

Context

Posting in Hindi, Nadda stated that India has recorded an 86 per cent reduction in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), a 79 per cent fall in under-five child mortality, and a 70 per cent decline in neonatal mortality — achievements he described as better than the global average. 'ये उपलब्धियां हमें संतोष के साथ-साथ आगे और बेहतर करने की प्रेरणा देती हैं' ('These achievements give us satisfaction as well as the inspiration to do even better'), he wrote.

The minister framed the figures as a collective milestone while reiterating that the government's resolve is to 'fully achieve the goal of reducing maternal and child mortality by giving further momentum to PMSMA.'

Policy Backdrop

PMSMA was launched in June 2016 to provide free, assured, comprehensive antenatal care on the 9th of every month at government health facilities across the country. The scheme sits within the broader National Health Mission (NHM) umbrella, which has prioritised maternal and child health since 2005 through interventions such as the Janani Suraksha Yojana and expanded immunisation drives.

India's National Health Policy 2017 set time-bound targets for reducing MMR and under-five mortality, and successive governments have layered targeted schemes under the NHM to drive institutional deliveries, antenatal coverage, and newborn care. Official mortality estimates are periodically published by the Registrar General of India through the Sample Registration System (SRS), which tracks demographic trends at the national and state level.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of PMSMA are pregnant women — particularly those in rural and underserved areas — and newborns who gain from improved antenatal screening and referral pathways. State health departments are the implementing partners, responsible for designating facilities and deploying specialist doctors on fixed antenatal care days each month.

While the reductions cited are presented as exceeding global averages, health policy analysts have noted that India's MMR must still reach below 70 per 1,00,000 live births to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 target by 2030, indicating that further progress is needed even as the gains are substantial.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the forthcoming release of the next Sample Registration System statistical bulletin, which will carry updated official estimates for MMR and neonatal mortality and allow independent verification of the trend lines cited by the minister. Any formal review or expansion of PMSMA — including potential changes to outreach frequency, beneficiary coverage, or digital tracking — is expected to be discussed at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's annual programme review.

Nadda's post signals that the government intends to sustain political momentum behind the scheme heading into the second decade of its implementation, with the SDG 2030 deadline providing a hard policy benchmark against which progress will be measured.