Twenty-five children were adopted through CARA in Nagaland over the last two financial years, while thousands of beneficiaries received support under PMMVY and other child welfare schemes.
KOHIMA — A total of 25 children were adopted through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in Nagaland during the last two financial years, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has informed.
Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur provided the information in response to a series of unstarred questions on Friday.
She stated that 12 children were adopted through CARA in Nagaland during the financial year 2024-25, while 13 children were adopted during 2025-26.
The minister also furnished the status of applications from Nagaland under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), covering the period from April 2023 to August 5, 2026.
During 2023-24, a total of 9,054 applications were received under PMMVY, of which 4,313 were approved and 1,030 rejected. In 2024-25, the number of applications increased to 13,723, with 13,066 approved and 1,624 rejected.
During 2025-26, 10,237 applications were received, while 10,427 were approved and 845 rejected. For the current financial year 2026-27, up to August 5, a total of 5,203 applications had been received, with 3,927 approved and 274 rejected.
According to the ministry, applications under PMMVY may be rejected for reasons including ineligibility under the scheme guidelines, submission of incorrect documents, or having already availed the full benefit.
The ministry further stated that beneficiaries may have registered on the PMMVY portal but may not receive maternity benefits due to issues such as non-mapping of Aadhaar with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) or non-authentication of Aadhaar.
In Nagaland, 1,007 beneficiaries had Aadhaar numbers that were not mapped with NPCI, while biometrics, including facial authentication, of 855 beneficiaries had not been authenticated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Meanwhile, the ministry informed that Nagaland has 62 Child Care Institutions (CCIs) funded under Mission Vatsalya.
It also provided details of beneficiaries receiving Non-Institutional Care, including support under Mission Vatsalya, over the last five financial years.
The number of beneficiaries stood at 521 in 2021-22, 752 in 2022-23, 779 in 2023-24, 789 in 2024-25 and 789 in 2025-26.
The ministry also furnished details of funds released and utilised under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 in Nagaland from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
In 2021-22, INR 159.80 crore was released and INR 160.21 crore utilised. In 2022-23, the fund release stood at INR 199.30 crore, against utilisation of INR 190.47 crore.
During 2023-24, INR 262.91 crore was released, while INR 209.24 crore was utilised.
In 2024-25, INR 147.01 crore was released and INR 146.32 crore utilised. In 2025-26, INR 146.29 crore was released.
The ministry clarified that the expenditure figures include utilisation of balances carried forward from previous years.