<h1>Maternity benefits entitlement underfunding undermines statutory obligations, exposing budgetary non disclosure and narrowed eligibility criteria for beneficiaries.</h1> Maternity benefits entitlement is being reduced in practice by a programme that pays a lower sum for first births and conditions subsequent benefits, coinciding with a sharp fall in beneficiary coverage. The Budget aggregates the scheme under a multi component heading without separate allocation, and the umbrella allocation is materially below the estimated requirement to implement the statutory maternity entitlement, indicating underfunding and lack of budgetary transparency.