Lok Sabha Question No. 1471 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: Utilization of Funds under POSHAN Abhiyaan
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1471

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.02.2023

## UTILIZATION OF FUNDS UNDER POSHAN ABHIYAAN

## 1471. COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE:

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

- (a) the objectives of POSHAN Abhiyaan along with the percentage of POSHAN funds utilized, State-wise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  examined  the  reasons  for  under-utilization  of funds under POSHAN Abhiyaan by States like Rajasthan, as per NITI Aayog's progress report, if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the efforts taken by the Government to improve utilisation of funds in an efficient manner?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8 th  March 2018 with an aim to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children under 6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach.

The  goals  of  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  are  to  achieve  improvement  in  nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner with fixed targets as under:

|   S. No | Objective                                                                                         | Target   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|
|       1 | Prevent and reduce Stunting in children (0- 6 years)                                              | @2%p.a.  |
|       2 | Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years)               | @2%p.a.  |
|       3 | Reduce the prevalence of anemia among young Children (6-59 months)                                | @3%p.a.  |
|       4 | Reduce the prevalence of anemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years. | @3%p.a.  |
|       5 | Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW).                                                                    | @2%p.a.  |

The State/UT wise percentage of funds utilized under POSHAN Abhiyaan from FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22, as per available data, is at Annexure I. In FY 2022-23, Poshan Abhiyan was merged with Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.00, alongwith  Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls.

(b)  and (c) As per NITI Aayog's Progress report , Preserving Progress on Nutrition in India:  Poshan Abhiyaan in Pandemic Time , there has been an increase in both the utilization of funds and the number of States that had utilized more than 50% of the funds from the end of FY 2018-19 to the end of FY 2019-20, including an increase in utilisation  of  funds  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan.  The  report  also  mentions  that  an evaluation  of  centrally-sponsored  schemes  conducted  by  Development  Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) NITI Aayog shows that fund utilization was high on community-based events and IEC material.

Regular reports are received from States regarding progress of fund utilization under POSHAN  Abhiyaan.  Delays if any, are monitored through sustained engagements with State Governments in review meetings to ensure that targets are achieved  and  funds  are  utilized.  A  major  plank  of  Poshan  Abhiyan  is  Behaviour Change  Communication  through  Jan  Andolan  activities.  Due  to  Covid  pandemic, States/  UTs  were  unable  to  fully  utilise  funds  as  the  Jan  Andolan  activities  were affected.  States/UTs  are  advised  to  utilise  the  funds  allocated  under  various components of POSHAN Abhiyaan as per the cost norms for effective implementation of the scheme. Any un-utilized fund / excess expenditure incurred during a particular year under POSHAN Abhiyaan is adjusted in the allocation/release of the succeeding year.

Guidelines for Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 have been issued vide which costing has been earmarked under various components of the Abhiyan. Procurement of Smartphones and Growth Monitoring Devices, such as Infantometer, Stadiometer, Weighing Scale etc., are key components under the Abhiyaan, wherein, fund  utilization  can  be  maximized.  In  this  regard,  fresh  guidelines  have  also  been issued  in  January  2023  giving  revised  technical  specifications  for  procurement  of Growth  Monitoring  Devices  by  the  States.  Further,  States  are  encouraged  to undertake innovative measures to address the challenge of malnutrition, and in this regard,  best  practices  emerging  from  States/UTs  are  disseminated.  Incentives  are also earmarked for Anganwadi Workers undertaking 80% targeted growth measurements  and  60%  targeted  home  visits  every  month.  These  are  monitored through the ICT application, Poshan Tracker, which captures the data of key services delivered across the country.

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## Annexure I

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO THE REPLY OF PART (A) OF THE LOK SABHA QUESTION NO.1471  REGARDING  UTILIZATION  OF  FUNDS  UNDER  POSHAN ABHIYAAN DUE FOR ANSWER ON 10.02.2023.

|   Sl. | States/UTs               |   Total Central Fu nds released till 31.03.2022 |   Total Central Funds utilized as on 31.03.2 022 |   %Utilized |
|-------|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------|
|     1 | A &NISLANDS              |                                        1343.49  |                                           413.54 |          31 |
|     2 | ANDHRA PRADESH           |                                       25363.3   |                                         17560.8  |          69 |
|     3 | ARUNACHAL PRADE SH       |                                        2815.88  |                                          1064.21 |          38 |
|     4 | ASSAM                    |                                       32948.7   |                                         21276.3  |          65 |
|     5 | BIHAR                    |                                       49365.6   |                                         30678.4  |          62 |
|     6 | CHANDIGARH               |                                         890.04  |                                           573.96 |          64 |
|     7 | CHHATTISGARH             |                                       11434.5   |                                          7303.88 |          64 |
|     8 | D &NHAVELIand D AMAN&DIU |                                        1196.11  |                                           769.67 |          64 |
|     9 | DELHI                    |                                        3327.18  |                                          2549.6  |          77 |
|    10 | GOA                      |                                         456.04  |                                           249.13 |          55 |
|    11 | GUJARAT                  |                                       29127.7   |                                         22074.1  |          76 |
|    12 | HARYANA                  |                                        6808.82  |                                          5790.88 |          85 |
|    13 | HIMACHAL PRADES H        |                                       10895.4   |                                          7711.43 |          71 |
|    14 | JAMMU &KASHMIR           |                                        9224.35  |                                          9160.82 |          99 |
|    15 | JHARKHAND                |                                        6665.8   |                                          5467.55 |          82 |
|    16 | KARNATAKA                |                                       14276.5   |                                         13221.9  |          93 |
|    17 | KERALA                   |                                       10444.9   |                                          7474.28 |          72 |
|    18 | LADAKH                   |                                         118.768 |                                             9.94 |           8 |
|    19 | LAKSHADWEEP              |                                         425.65  |                                           356.05 |          84 |
|    20 | MADHYAPRADESH            |                                       39398.5   |                                         20087.8  |          51 |
|    21 | MAHARASHTRA              |                                       60810.8   |                                         43714.4  |          72 |

| 22    | MANIPUR       |   4389.99 |   3714.79 |     85 |
|-------|---------------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| 23    | MEGHALAYA     |   5073.39 |   5073.39 | 100    |
| 24    | MIZORAM       |   3328.51 |   2575.03 |  77    |
| 25    | NAGALAND      |   5624.11 |   5263.99 |  94    |
| 26    | ODISHA        |  28014.5  |  15172.1  |  54    |
| 27    | PUDUCHERRY    |    943.62 |    264.58 |  28    |
| 28    | PUNJAB        |   6909.84 |     30.24 |   0.43 |
| 29    | RAJASTHAN     |  22904.2  |  12258.1  |  54    |
| 30    | SIKKIM        |   1370.99 |   1370.99 | 100    |
| 31    | TAMIL NADU    |  25060.4  |  21879.4  |  87    |
| 32    | TELANGANA     |  17906.8  |  15786.9  |  88    |
| 33    | TRIPURA       |   4135.95 |   3774.79 |  91    |
| 34    | UTTAR PRADESH |  56969    |  41834.8  |  73    |
| 35    | UTTARAKHAND   |  13574.9  |  10769.9  |  79    |
| 36    | WEST BENGAL   |  26751.1  |      0    |   0    |
| Total | Total         | 540295    | 357278    |  66    |

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