Lok Sabha Question No. 761 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-26
Subject: Poshan Abhiyaan in West Bengal
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Khalilur Rahaman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 761

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2024

## 'POSHAN ABHIYAAN IN WEST BENGAL'

## 761.    SHRI KHALILUR RAHAMAN

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is true that the Government has been able to achieve the   objectives of Poshan Abhiyaan in West Bengal;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the number of Anganwadi Centres in West Bengal where Poshan Abhiyaan is being implemented, district-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has conducted any study on the results of this scheme in the State; and
- (e) if so, the details and the outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a)  to  (c) Under  15th  Finance  Commission,  Anganwadi  services,  Poshan  Abhiyaan  and Scheme for Adolescent girls (14-18 years in Aspirational Districts and North-East region) were subsumed under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0). It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, where the responsibility of implementation of scheme is with the States. The scheme is being implemented in all the 23 Districts of West Bengal.

The indicators for malnutrition like children being underweight, stunted and wasted have shown  a  steady  improvement  in  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS)  conducted  by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. As per the report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years in the State of West Bengal as compared to NFHS-4 (2015-16) in Stunting are 32.5% and 33.8%, for Underweight prevalence 31.6% and 32.2% respectively, while wasting has remained constant at 20.3%.

However, as per the data of Poshan Tracker for the month of June 2024, around 72.18 lakh children under 6 years were measured in the State of West Bengal, out of whom 33% were found to be stunted and 12% were found to be underweight and 7% children under 5 years were found to be wasted. The levels of underweight and wasting obtained from Poshan Tracker are less than those projected by NFHS 5.

As on June 2024, 1,19,481 Anganwadi Centres are operational in the State, covering all the 23 Districts. District-wise details of operational Anganwadi Centres are at Annexure I.

(d) & (e) NITI Aayog conducted a third-party evaluation on implementation and impact of Anganwadi Services and Poshan Abhiyaan in 2020 and found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country including West Bengal.

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  761  FOR  26.07.2024  REGARDING  'POSHAN  ABHIYAAN  IN  WEST BENGAL' ASKED BY Shri Khalilur Rehman

## District-wise operational Anganwadi Centres*

| District            |   Operational AWCs |
|---------------------|--------------------|
| 124 Paraganas North |              10368 |
| 2Alipurduar         |               3204 |
| 3BANKURA            |               5739 |
| 4BIRBHUM            |               5191 |
| 5COOCHBEHAR         |               4188 |
| 6DARJEELING         |               3252 |
| 7DINAJPUR DAKSHIN   |               3279 |
| 8HOOGHLY            |               6708 |
| 9Howrah             |               4506 |
| 10JALPAIGURI        |               3936 |
| 11Jhargram          |               2477 |
| 12Kalimpong         |                639 |
| 13Kolkata           |               1529 |
| 14MALDAH            |               5723 |
| 15MEDINIPUR WEST    |               6636 |
| 16MURSHIDABAD       |               9033 |
| 17NADIA             |               6934 |
| 18PASCHIM BARDHAMAN |               2845 |
| 19PURBA BARDHAMAN   |               6853 |
| 20Purba Medinipur   |               6345 |
| 21PURULIA           |               4945 |
| 22South 24 Parganas |              11364 |
| 23Uttar Dinajpur    |               3787 |
| Total               |             119481 |

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