Lok Sabha Question No. 863 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-23
Subject: Revamping of Anganwadis
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: E. T. Mohammed Basheer

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO: 863

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2021

## REVAMPING OF ANGANWADIS

## 863:   SHRI E.T. MOHAMMED BASHEER

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  revamp  the  existing  structures  and functioning of Anganwadis;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  any  in-service  course  for  Anganwadi  workers  has  been  proposed  for improving their quality and efficiency; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a)  &  (b)  Revamping  of  Anganwadis  is  a  continuous  process for  which  various  steps have been taken from time to time for improving the condition of Anganwadi centres across the country. Following measures have been taken for upgradation of facilities at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs):

(i) Revised joint guidelines were issued by Ministries of Women & Child Development, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj for construction of 4 lakh AWC buildings across the  country  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme (MGNREGS) in convergence with Anganwadi Services (ICDS Scheme).

(ii)  Under  Swachhta  Action  Plan,  Rs.10,000/-per  AWC  is  provided  for  drinking  water facilities and Rs.12,000/-per AWC for toilet facilities.

(iii) Grants are sanctioned for purchase of water filter, furniture, equipment, etc. (iv)  Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) have been provided with Smart Phones for efficient service delivery.

(v) Streamlined guidelines were issued on 13.01.2021, covering several aspects such as quality assurance, roles and responsibilities of duty holders, procedure for procurement,  integrating  AYUSH  concepts  and  Data  management  and  Monitoring through 'Poshan Tracker' for transparency, efficiency and accountability in delivery of Supplementary Nutrition.

(c)  &  (d)  Training  is  a  crucial  element  in  the  Anganwadi  Services  Scheme  as  the achievement of the Programme goals largely depend upon the effectiveness of frontline workers in improving service delivery. Since the inception of the Scheme, the Ministry has formulated  a  comprehensive  training  strategy  for  the  functionaries  of  Anganwadi Services. Training is imparted to the functionaries on a regular basis.

Anganwadi Workers are provided job training for 26 working days. During this job training,  the  knowledge,  understanding  and  skills  of  Anganwadi  Workers  on  various Acts, Policies,  Programmes  related  to women  and  children,  setting up vibrant Anganwadi Centres, conducting Early Childhood Care and Education activities, health & nutrition care of children and women, Community Mobilisation, Awareness, Advocacy & IEC, Management of AWC and hands on experience through supervised practice to work in Anganwadi Centres are developed.

Moreover,  a  robust  ICT  enabled  platform  named  Poshan  tracker   has  been designed   to  capture  real-time  data  on  implementation  and  monitoring  of  Anganwadi Services across the country.The Poshan Tracker management application provides a 360 - degree view of the activities of the Anganwadi Centre (AWC), service deliveries of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and complete beneficiary management.

Common  services  Centres  (CSC)  SPV  under  Ministry  of  Electronics  and Information Technology has been entrusted with providing technical support to States/ UTs and to resolve issue regarding downloading the new Poshan Tracker app and its functioning as well as imparting inputs based training to the field functionaries. Statewise nodal person from CSC-SPV have been identified for smooth functioning of the application.

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