Lok Sabha Question No. 3005 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: ICDS Scheme in Uttarakhand
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3005

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2024

## ICDS SCHEME IN UTTARAKHAND

## †3005. SHRI TRIVENDRA SINGH RAWAT:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  observed  any  significant  improvement  in  the implementation of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme in Uttarakhand;
- (b) if  so,  the present status of Anganwadi centres and the Child Development Projects in Uttarakhand; and
- (c) the future plans of the Government to further strengthen services under the said scheme?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c): During the 15 th  Finance Commission (FC) period, various components such as  nutritional  support  for  children  from  6  months  to  the  age  of  6  years,  pregnant women  and  lactating  mothers  and  Adolescent  Girls,  Early  Childhood  Care  and Education  of  children  (3-6  years)  and Anganwadi  infrastructure  including  modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi have been reorganised under an umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0). This Mission seeks to address the challenge of malnutrition through improved nutrition content and delivery. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, where the responsibility of implementation lies with the States/UTs.

Under this Mission, 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.

Details  of  the  registered  beneficiaries  under  various  categories  for  the  State  of Uttarakhand under Mission  Poshan 2.0 as per Poshan tracker is  as  under  (As  on 09.12.2024):

|   Children up to 6 years |   Adolescent Girls |   Lactating Mothers |   Pregnant Women |
|--------------------------|--------------------|---------------------|------------------|
|                   605347 |              74116 |               53599 |            57576 |

The prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children under five years of age as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS) for the State of Uttarakhand is as under:

| Stunting (%)     | Stunting (%)     | Wasting (%)      | Wasting (%)      | Underweight (%)   | Underweight (%)   |
|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| NHFS 4 (2015-16) | NHFS 5 (2019-21) | NHFS 4 (2015-16) | NHFS 5 (2019-21) | NHFS 4 (2015- 16) | NHFS 5 (2019-21)  |
| 33.5             | 27               | 19.5             | 13.2             | 26.6              | 21                |

A total of 105 Projects have been sanctioned under the Mission and all are operational in  the  State  of  Uttarakhand. Also, a  total  of  20069 Anganwadi  centres  have been sanctioned for the State of Uttarakhand out of which 20062 are operational.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, 2 lakh Anganwadi Centres @ 40,000 AWCs per year are to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis for improved nutrition delivery and for early childhood care and development under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Saksham  Anganwadis  are  equipped  with  infrastructure better than the conventional Anganwadi Centres by providing LED screens, water purifier/installation of RO Machine, Poshan Vatika, ECCE and BALA Paintings. 827 Anganwadi Centres have  been  approved  for  upgradation  to  Saksham  Anganwadi  in  the  State  of Uttarakhand and Rs.744 Lakh have been allocated for this purpose.  350 AWCs have been upgraded to Saksham Anganwadi in the State of Uttarakhand.

This  Ministry  continuously  monitors  the  implementation  of  Mission  2.0  through sustained  engagement with the  States/UTs through Video Conferences, meetings and through Online Poshan Tracker System.

Under this Mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years),  Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls to beat the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition by adopting a life cycle approach.

Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anaemia among women and children.

Government of India launched Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative on 10 th  May, 2023 for upgrading skills of all anganwadi workers to strengthen their capacity to provide early childhood care and education and nutrition service to children below six years of age, including divyang children.

Ministry has issued guidelines to all States/UTs on 13.01.2021 to streamline 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 the delivery of Supplementary Nutrition.

Some of the benefits of Poshan Tracker are as follows:

- I. All the beneficiaries registered in Poshan Tracker are authenticated through Aadhar verification.
- II. All  the  beneficiaries  upon  registration  in  Poshan  Tracker  are  informed,  through SMS,  about  the  services  which  can  be  availed  by  them  through  Anganwadi Platform, thereby creating ownership of citizens,
- III. Further,  on  delivery  of THR,  SMS  alerts  along  with  Poshan  Helpline  details  are being sent on the registered mobile number of beneficiaries. If beneficiary does not receive THR, she/he can raise the complaint on Poshan Helpline.
- IV. The Physical Records of Growth Monitoring have been replaced by auto generated monthly report in Poshan Tracker. These reports can be downloaded and used in the review meeting by the supervisors.
- V. IEC  material  on  relevant  topics  is  made  available  digitally  on  Poshan  Tracker thereby eliminating the need of carrying bulky IEC material.
- VI. All the home visits are now auto scheduled in Poshan Tracker for which she also receives reminders. Report on completed and pending Home Visit is available in Poshan Tracker.
- VII. With 'Poshan Tracker', real time data on malnutrition indicators is available every month.  As  compared  to  NFHS  (sample  size  of  approx.  6.1  lakh  households), Poshan  Tracker  consistently  measures  approx.  8  crore  children  each  month revealing the real time nutritional status of beneficiaries.
- VIII. Poshan Tracker has the provision for auto calculation of eligibility for the incentives for  Anganwadi  Worker  and  Helper  based  on  their  performance  in  Growth Monitoring, Home Visits and opening of AWCs.
- IX. A new report has been added in Poshan Tracker in the form of Fact sheet. Poshan Tracker generates various reports such as Growth monitoring, Anganwadi centres open, attendance of children each day, infrastructure details at AWC etc. These reports are available at all the levels including, supervisors, CDPO and DPOs which resulted into improved administrative supervision and effective implementation of the scheme including targeted approach for malnourished children

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