Gujarat’s maternity assistance system is facing a major digital hurdle, with official data showing that more than 1.5 lakh beneficiaries registered under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) have faced Aadhaar-related problems that prevented them from receiving benefits.
Data placed before the Lok Sabha on August 7, 2026, shows that 93,572 beneficiaries in Gujarat could not receive their benefits because their Aadhaar numbers were not mapped with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Another 60,108 beneficiaries faced unsuccessful Aadhaar biometric or facial authentication through the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Together, these two categories account for 1,53,680 beneficiaries facing technical barriers in the benefit-payment process.
At the same time, Gujarat recorded 75,437 rejected PMMVY installments between FY24 and August 5, 2026, with the highest number of rejections recorded in FY25.
75,437 installments rejected
The year-wise figures show considerable changes in the number of PMMVY installments applied for, approved and rejected in Gujarat.
Between FY24 and August 5, 2026, the state recorded 12,64,021 applied installments and 11,25,958 approved installments. During the same period, 75,437 installments were recorded as rejected.
The rejection figures changed sharply from year to year.
In FY24, Gujarat recorded:
4,55,206 applied installments
1,81,251 approved installments
4,877 rejected installments
The situation changed significantly in FY25. Although the number of applied installments fell to 3,11,383, rejected installments jumped to 51,520.
That means FY25 alone accounted for the largest share of the rejection figures recorded during the period. The numbers declined again in FY26, when Gujarat recorded:
3,47,540 applied installments
2,85,971 approvals
13,755 rejections
In FY27, up to August 5, 2026, the state recorded:
1,49,892 applied installments
1,99,259 approvals
5,285 rejections
The government has clarified that the approval figures can include installments that were applied for during earlier financial years. Therefore, the annual application and approval figures should not be treated as a direct same-year conversion rate.
Aadhaar problems are a separate issue
The figures related to Aadhaar problems represent a different category from rejected installments.
In Gujarat, 93,572 beneficiaries were unable to receive benefits because their Aadhaar was not mapped with NPCI. Another 60,108 beneficiaries faced problems with Aadhaar biometric or facial authentication.
This brings the total in these two technical-failure categories to 1,53,680 beneficiaries.
Importantly, these figures cannot simply be added to the 75,437 rejected installments to calculate the number of unique women affected. The categories represent different stages and types of problems in the PMMVY system.
The data also does not provide a year-wise breakup of the beneficiaries facing Aadhaar-related technical problems. The government has said that beneficiaries can move out of this pending category once their Aadhaar-NPCI mapping is completed or their authentication is successfully completed.
Gujarat among states facing a substantial digital barrier
The issue is not limited to Gujarat.
Across India, 6,13,633 beneficiaries faced problems because their Aadhaar was not mapped with NPCI. Another 5,29,554 beneficiaries faced unsuccessful biometric authentication.
Gujarat’s figures therefore form part of a much larger national challenge involving Aadhaar verification and the digital payment process used to deliver maternity benefits.
Why are PMMVY applications rejected?
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has identified several reasons why PMMVY applications or installments may be rejected.
These include cases where an applicant does not meet the eligibility conditions under the scheme, incorrect documents being uploaded, or problems with documents such as MCH/RCH cards and other eligibility documents.
Applications can also be rejected when a beneficiary has already received the full benefit available under PMMVY.
However, rejection is different from an eligible beneficiary whose payment is held up because of an Aadhaar-related technical problem.
A fully digital system
PMMVY’s implementation was shifted from the earlier PMMVY-CAS software to the new PMMVY system from April 1, 2023.
The new platform was designed as a paperless system. Payments are routed through the Aadhaar Bridge Payment System, while Aadhaar-based identity verification can involve biometric authentication and facial recognition.
The government has put several mechanisms in place to support the system. These include application tracking, grievance redressal, a multilingual helpline, SMS alerts and monitoring systems extending to the Anganwadi level.
Aadhaar verification and Direct Benefit Transfer enablement are also checked during registration with the aim of making the payment process faster.
The digital gap remains
Despite these systems, Gujarat’s figures highlight a gap between being registered digitally and actually receiving the benefit.
For 1,53,680 beneficiaries listed under the two Aadhaar-related technical problem categories, registration in the PMMVY system did not automatically result in successful payment.
The government says it is regularly monitoring pending cases, fund utilisation and implementation through video conferences and digital monitoring systems. PMMVY funds are now also released through a Just-in-Time framework under the SNA-SPARSH mechanism.
But the Gujarat figures leave an important question around benefit delivery: how quickly are women whose maternity assistance is blocked by Aadhaar mapping or authentication problems being moved back into the payment system?
The Lok Sabha data shows the scale of the technical barrier, but it does not provide a Gujarat-specific assessment of how many otherwise eligible women have remained without their maternity benefits for an extended period because of these digital failures.
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