Lok Sabha Question No. 3395 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-08
Subject: Implementation of POSHAN Abhiyan Scheme
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Imran Masood

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3395 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2025

## IMPLEMENTATION OF POSHAN ABHIYAAN SCHEME

## 3395. SHRI IMRAN MASOOD:

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

- (a) the details of the progress made by the Government in reducing the rate of malnutrition among children and anaemia among women under the Poshan Abhiyaan and other related schemes during the last financial year along with the latest data in this regard;
- (b) whether the Government has identified any major challenges/constraints in the implementation of said schemes, particularly in remote areas;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the remedial steps being adopted in this regard;
- (d) the details of the scheme formulated by the Government to further strengthen coordination among various Ministries and State Governments to tackle the problem of malnutrition; and
- (e) whether the Government has taken any new initiatives to increase the community participation in the fight against malnutrition and to spread awareness about it, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (e): Under the 15th Finance Commission, various components like Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls (of 14-18 years in Aspirational Districts and North-Eastern region) have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) to address the challenge of malnutrition. It is a Centrally Sponsored mission, where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. This mission is a universal self-selecting umbrella scheme where there are no entry barriers for any beneficiary to register and receive services. This mission is being implemented across the country. The objectives of Mission are as follows:

-  To contribute to development of human capital in the country;
-  Address challenge of malnutrition;
-  Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing

Nutrition  goes  beyond  mere  eating  of  food;  it  requires  proper  digestion,  absorption,  and metabolism of nutrients. This process is influenced by factors like sanitation, education and access to safe drinking water. As malnutrition requires a multi-sectoral approach involving dimensions of food, health, water, sanitation and education, it is crucial to effectively address the issue of malnutrition in a convergent  manner.  It  is  being  addressed  under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  by establishing cross cutting convergence amongst 18 Ministries/Departments.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0 a new strategy has been made for reduction in malnutrition and for improved health,  wellness  and  immunity  through  activities  like  community  engagement,  outreach, behavioral change, and advocacy. It focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and wellness  through  AYUSH  practices  to  reduce  prevalence  of  wasting,  stunting,  anaemia  and  being underweight.

Under this mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant  Women,  Lactating  Mothers  and  Adolescent  Girls  to  beat  the  intergenerational  cycle  of malnutrition by adopting a life cycle approach. Supplementary nutrition is provided in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act. These norms have been revised in January 2023. The old norms were largely calorie-specific; however, the revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity that provides for quality protein, healthy fats and micronutrients (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Dietary Folate, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-B6 and Vitamin B-12).

Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anaemia among women and children. Greater emphasis is being laid on the use of millets at least once a week for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take Home ration at Anganwadi centers.

Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare have jointly released the protocol for Community Management of Malnutrition (CMAM) to prevent and treat severely acute malnutrition in children and for reducing associated morbidity and mortality. The community-based  approach  involves  timely  detection  and  screening  of  children  with  severe  acute malnutrition in the community, management for those without medical complications with wholesome, local nutritious foods at home and supportive medical care.

Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators for children since NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 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 (2005-6)***  |       48   |           42.5 |        19.8 |
| NFHS-4 (2015-16)*** |       38.4 |           35.8 |        21   |
| NFHS-5 (2019-21)*** |       35.5 |           32.1 |        19.3 |

* Under 4 years

** Under 3 years

- *** Under 5 years

The above table gives a representative picture of malnutrition indicators among all children of 0-3 years, 0-4 years and 0-5 years age at the relevant time.

The projected population of all children up to 5 years in India for the year 2021 is 13.75 crores approximately (source: Population Projections for India and States 2011-2036, National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare). However, only 7.36 crores children up to 5 years were enrolled in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development as per the June, 2025 data. 7 crores of these children were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 37.07% of them have been found to be stunted, 15.93% have been found to be underweight and 5.46% wasted.

The  analysis  of  the  above  NFHS  data  and  the  Poshan  Tracker  data  shows  improvement  in malnutrition indicators in children across India.

The State/UT wise data on Stunting, wasting and underweight can be accessed from the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

Under  this  Mission,  one  of  the  major  activities  undertaken  is  Community  Mobilization  and Awareness  Advocacy  to  educate  people  on  nutritional  aspects  as  adoption  of  good  nutrition  habit requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. Community-Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices, and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two  CBEs  every  month.  Under  Jan  Andolan,  Poshan  Pakhwada  and  Rashtriya  Poshan  Maah  are celebrated annually in March-April and September respectively, since 2018. So far, a total of 7 Poshan Maah and 7 Poshan Pakhwada have been conducted. The States/ UTs have reported more than 140 crore outreach activities around various thematic areas including importance of maternal nutrition, appropriate techniques of breastfeeding, importance of timely initiation of complimentary feeding, first 1000 days of life, poshan ke panch sutra, anemia, tribal sensitisation, millet promotion, environment protection, ECCE etc., in coordination with more than 18 partner ministries/ departments.

Various steps have been taken up from time to time for improving the implementation of scheme Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Following are some of the initiatives undertaken recently:

-  Ministry  vide  notification  dated  12th  September,  2022  issued  Integrated  Nutrition  Support Programme - Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan (2.0), Rules,2022 to regulate the entitlements specified under the provisions of National Food Security Act, 2013 for every pregnant women and lactating mother, till six months after child birth and every child in the age group of six months to six years.
-  District Nutrition Committee (DNC) chaired by the District Collector is envisaged as a critical mechanism for decentralized planning, implementation, and monitoring of nutrition interventions under Mission POSHAN 2.0. To strengthen and institutionalize the functioning of DNCs, specific Guidelines for District Nutrition Committees have been developed, including suggested data templates for regular review meetings. These guidelines aim to enhance multisectoral coordination, improve service delivery, and ensure targeted actions for improving the nutritional status of women and children at the district level.
-  As  on  date,  2  lakh  Anganwadi  Centres  have  been  approved  to  be  upgraded  as  Saksham Anganwadis  for  improved  nutrition  delivery  and  for  imparting  early  childhood  care  and development. Saksham Anganwadis are provided with better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi Centres which includes internet/Wi-Fi connectivity, LED screens, water purifier/installation of RO Machine and smart learning equipment's.
-  The Government has taken a policy  decision to upgrade each Mini AWCs to a full-fledged Anganwadi  Centre  with  one  worker  and  one  helper  to  help  in  carrying  out  the  various responsibilities under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 including responsibilities related to Early Childhood Care & Education. Sanction for upgradation of 1,11,363 Mini-AWCs to main AWCs has been issued as on 08.07.2025.
-  Poshan Tracker an ICT tool has been implemented for monitoring and tracking of infrastructure and service delivery at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators.
-  For last mile tracking of Service Delivery, MWCD has developed Facial Recognition System (FRS)  for  the  distribution  of  Take-Home  Ration  to  ensure  that  benefit  is  given  only  to  the intended beneficiary registered in Poshan Tracker. The FRS has been made mandatory for the distribution of THR from 1 st July, 2025.
-  The  PM  JANMAN  Mission  launched  by  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  aims  for  targeted development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) residing in 18 States and a UT.  This  Mission  focuses  on  11  critical  interventions  related  to  9  key  Ministries  including Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development.  As  on  date,  a  total  of  2500  AWCs  have  been approved for construction under PM JANMAN across the country.
-  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.  The intervention of Ministry of Women and Child Development involves establishment of 2000 new Saksham AWCs and upgradation of 6000 existing AWCs into Saksham AWCs from FY 202425 to FY 2028-29.
-  To strengthen on-ground implementation, a supportive supervision module has been launched for supervisors to monitor the working of Anganwadi centres under them. Dashboards with heat maps and analytics are available at block, district, state, and national levels. These tools support timely decision-making,  allow  targeted  interventions, and  highlight data  anomalies  for correction.
-  The Suposhit Gram Panchayat Abhiyaan was launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 26th December 2024. The initiative by the Government of India aims to improve nutritional outcomes and  well-being  through  strengthened  nutrition  services,  community  participation,  and  multistakeholder convergence. The top 1000 Gram Panchayats will be awarded an incentive of 1 lakh. These incentives will be utilized to motivate the Anganwadi workers & helpers to help improve service delivery, and as an incentive to the Gram Panchayat to improve community mobilization & increase enrollment and help nutrition related initiatives.

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