Parliament Question: Performance under the Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3306 ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026 PERFORMANCE UNDER THE NUTRITION MISSION (POSHAN ABHIYAAN)

3306. SHRI ABHISHEK BANERJEE

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the funds released/utilised under POSHAN Abhiyaan since FY 2020-21;

(b) the details of the anganwadi centres equipped with functional devices for real-time monitoring;

(c) the details of the decline in child malnutrition recorded in the country, State-wise; and

(d) the details of the corrective steps being undertaken in low-performing States? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (d): To address the challenge of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls (of 14-18 years age in Aspirational Districts and North-Eastern region) have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0). It is a Centrally Sponsored Mission where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs.

The details of funds released under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is placed

below:

Rupees in crores Mission Saksham Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Anganwadi and released released released released released released Poshan 2.0 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26

16105.78 18368.01 19849.82 21741.17 20904.83 16777.37Mission Poshan 2.0 empowers the frontline functionaries by providing them with smartphones.

All Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) are provided with internet connectivity charges.

Additionally, there is a provision of a set of 4 Growth Monitoring Devices (GMDs) (Infantometer and Stadiometer for length and height measurement, Weighing Scale-Infant and Weighing Scale-Mother & Child for weight measurement) at all Anganwadi Centres (AWC) in the country for regular growth measurement of all registered beneficiaries. Further, data entry on Poshan Tracker application of all indicators including growth measurement is done by the Anganwadi Workers using smartphones. Additionally, a 2% buffer for smartphones and 5% buffer for GMDs has been provisioned to be kept and maintained at the district level so that input is not adversely affected because of malfunctioning/non-availability of these items.

As per guidelines, smartphones and GMDs beyond 4 years are eligible for replacement.

Data of malnutrition indicators is collected under National Family Health Survey (NFHS) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Various rounds of the NFHS since 1992-93 have shown improvement over the years in malnutrition indicators across India. Details of these indicators from NFHS-1 to NFHS-6 are given below:

NFHS Survey Stunting % Underweight % Wasting % NFHS-1 (1992-93) * 52 53.4 17.5 NFHS-2 (1998-99) ** 45.5 47 15.5 NFHS-3 (2005-06) *** 48.0 42.5 19.8 NFHS-4 (2015-16) *** 38.4 35.8 21.0 NFHS-5 (2019-21) *** 35.5 32.1 19.3 NFHS-6 (2023-24) *** 29.3 31.8 19.0 * Under 4 years ** Under 3 years *** Under 5 years Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) under the Mission has rolled out ‘Poshan Tracker’ digital application as an ICT based governance tool for monitoring and tracking of all beneficiaries on various indicators. The State-wise data of nutrition indicators among children under five years in the country is available at the Poshan Tracker public

dashboard: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

Various measures have been taken by the MoWCD to improve nutritional outcomes including

in low performing States are placed below: • Supplementary Nutrition in the form of Hot cooked meal (HCM) and Take-Home Ration (THR) is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act, 2013. Additional Nutrition is also provided to Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children in form of Take- Home Ration (THR).

• One of the major activities undertaken under Mission Poshan 2.0 is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of good nutrition habit requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation activities under JanAndolans during Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada celebrated in the months of September and March-April, respectively. More than 150 crore Jan Andolan activities have been conducted since 2018 through 16 Jan Andolans, each helped sensitizing not only the target beneficiaries but communities at large.

• Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers (AWWs) are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month. So far, around 10.5 crore CBEs have been reported on Poshan Tracker from April 2022 to June 2026.

• MoWCD and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) have jointly released the Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children to prevent and treat severely acute malnutrition in children and for reducing associated morbidity and mortality.

• Under the Mission, two lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) have been approved to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition and for ECCE activities. These Saksham Anganwadis are equipped with better infrastructure such as LED screens, water filtration system, Poshan Vatika, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) material and Building as Learning Aid (BaLA) paintings.

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched Dharti Aaba Janjati Gram Unnat Abhiyan

(DAJGUA) aimed at improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities by adopting saturation coverage of tribal families in tribal majority areas and aspirational block ST villages. Under DAGJUA, 875 AWCs have been sanctioned for construction.

• Under PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan) being implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) which aims to provide basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, electrification of unelectrified households and sustainable livelihood opportunities in convergence with 9-line Ministries including MoWCD. A total of 2,500 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) have been sanctioned for construction in PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) areas.

• In convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) of Ministry of Rural Development, construction of AWCs is facilitated. Further, States and UTs have also been advised to continue to tap funds for construction of AWC buildings from various schemes such as Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund

(RIDF), Finance Commission Grants to Panchayati Raj Institutions, Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) of Ministry of Minority Affairs, etc. • MoHFW organises Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) for provision of maternal and child health services and creating awareness on maternal and child-care including nutrition in convergence with MoWCD.

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