Lok Sabha Question No. 593 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-04
Subject: Impact of Closure of Anganwadi Centres
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rahul Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.593

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2022

## IMPACT OF CLOSURE OF ANGANWADI CENTRES

## 593.     SHRI RAHUL GANDHI:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  impact  of  the  pandemic  on the   nutritional status of women and children;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has assessed the impact of closure of Anganwadi   centres  on  Early  Childhood  Care  and  Education  (ECCE)  and malnutrition,   particularly in aspirational districts and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)      whether  the  Government  has  taken  initiatives  to  strengthen  and  improve  the infrastructure at Anganwadi  Centres in aspirational districts especially in Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency in Kerala; and
- (e)       if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c)  Anganwadi  Centres  are  closed  due  to  Covid-19  pandemic.  No  impact study/survey  (to  study  the  impact  of  pandemic  on  nutritional  status  of  women  and children and on Early Childhood Care and Education) has been planned on ground, as human  interaction  has  been  minimised  to  control  the  spread  of  virus.  However,  to ensure continuous nutritional support to Anganwadi beneficiaries, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers are distributing Supplementary Nutrition at the doorsteps of beneficiaries once in 15 days.

During Covid-19 pandemic period, Ministry sought regular reports from States/UTs to ensure  uninterrupted  delivery  of  nutrition  and  essential  services  to  the  beneficiaries. Further, 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, Data management and Monitoring through "Poshan Tracker".

(d)  &  (e)  From  time  to  time  Government  has  taken  many  steps  for  improving  the infrastructure of Anganwadi Centres across the country (including Aspirational districts). These include provision of construction of Anganwadi Centres under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and provision of drinking water and sanitation facilities under Swacchta Action Plan (SAP).

There  have  been  sustained  engagements  with  State  Governments  for  review  and improvement  including  recent  interactions  to  discuss  different  implementation  related issues such as Anganwadi Infrastructure, non-operationalisation of Anganwadi Centres, filling of vacancies of Anganwadi Services functionaries and smooth delivery of services to the beneficiaries to strengthen services.

'Poshan Tracker', a robust ICT enabled digital platform, has been launched in March, 2021 to ensure real time monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition by use of data analytics for prompt supervision and management of services. The system shall enable  real-time  monitoring  and  tracking  of  all  AWCs,  AWWs  and  beneficiaries  on defined indicators.

The Aspirational Districts Programme aims to bring transformative changes Aspirational Districts.  The  programme  involves  real  time  monitoring  of  the  performance  of  all  the Aspirational Districts, including Wayanad, across sectors which are critical for improving quality of life or economic productivity of citizens, which includes Health and Nutrition, School Education and Basic Infrastructure, and also Agriculture and Water Resources and Financial Inclusion & Skill Development.

The Aspirational Districts Programme assists the District Magistrates in monitoring the performance  of  the  District  on  key  indicators,  including  those  relating  to  Anganwadi Centres and the services provided therein, for instance proportion of Anganwadis with own buildings. Under the above-mentioned competitive ranking and allocation arrangement, the district  of Wayanad,  on the  basis  of  its  monthly  performances,  has been sanctioned an amount of Rs.6 crores out of which an amount of Rs.1.8 crore has been  sanctioned  for  2  proposals  submitted  by  the  District  to  improve  its  Anganwadi Centres.

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