In May 2015, India had a total of 12.96 lakh AWWs, who were running a total of 13.5 lakh AWCs. Anganwadi Helpers*, who assist AWWs numbered 11.65 lakh. Each AWW is supposed to serve a population of 1,000, and is paid around INR 4,000 per month, though this figure varies across states. Last week, Prime Minister Modi announced a hike in the remuneration to AWWs and the monthly honorarium to ASHAs. In January 2017, there were a total of 8.82 lakh ASHAs. They are supposed to serve a population of 1,000 in rural areas, and a maximum of 2,500 in urban areas. Because they're volunteers, they do not receive a salary, but get monetary incentives for specific activities. For instance, they are paid INR 350 for every institutional delivery that happens because of them. As for ANMs, in March 2015 India had a total of 2.12 lakh. With 155,708 functioning health sub-centres (which are supposed to serve a population of 5,000 each) and two ANMs per sub-centre, India’s total requirement for ANMs is around 47% higher than the current supply. Picture courtesy: Paula Bronstein/The Verbatim Agency/Getty Images