Lok Sabha Question No. 1407 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-28
Subject: Digitisation of Anganwadi Centres
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ramcharan Bohra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1407

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2023

## DIGITISATION OF ANGANWADI CENTRES

## 1407   SHRI RAMCHARAN BOHRA

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

- (a) whether the Government  has  started digitisation of data pertaining to Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) across the country for their effective monitoring;
- (b) if  so,  the  status  of  such  digitisation  in  each  State,  State/UT-wise  including Rajasthan;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  proposed  a  timeline  for  the  completion  of digitisation of AWCs;
- (d) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) the  initiatives  taken  by  the  Union  and  the  State  Governments  to  improve nutrition, literacy and numeracy skill of children in AWCs?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)        IT systems have been leveraged to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition delivery support systems at the Anganwadi centres. The 'Poshan Tracker' application was rolled out on 1 st  March, 2021 as an important governance tool. The Poshan  Tracker  facilitates  monitoring  and  tracking  of  all  AWCs,  AWWs  and beneficiaries on defined indicators, such as basic details of the registered benefeciaries, growth measurement and nutritional status of beneficiaries, delivery of key Anganwadi  services  such  as  supplementary  nutrition, daily activities etc. Technology  under  Poshan  Tracker  is  being  leveraged  for  dynamic  identification  of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children. Further, under POSHAN Abhiyaan, for the first time, a digital revolution was ushered in when the Anganwadi Centres were equipped with mobile devices. For the first time, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) have been technology empowered with smartphones. Further, to promote regular  growth  measurement,  12.5  lakh  Growth  Measurement  Devices  have  been procured  by  States/UTs  for  Anganwadi  Centres.  The  mobile  application  has  also facilitated digitization and automation of physical registers used by AWWs that helps in improving their quality of work. Around 13.96 lakh AWCs have started using the ICT Application. Moreover, around 10.11 crore beneficiaries are registered under Poshan Tracker and 94% are Aadhar verified.

(b) to  (d)       13.96  lakh  Anganwadis  have  already  been  registered  on  the  Poshan Tracker across the country, which is nearly all of the operational AWCs. The State/UT wise Anganwadis registered under Poshan tracker including Rajasthan is at Annexure I.

- (e) Government has accorded high priority to nutrition as well as early development of  the  children  in  the  country.  The  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) launched in 2021, aims at developing India's human capital and integrates three existing schemes (Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls), adopting a lifecycle approach to malnutrition reduction. It shifts focus from calorific sufficiency alone to improved health, wellness and immunity through micronutrient sufficiency via a set of clearly defined strategies. It focuses on infant and young child feeding practices (including breastfeeding and complementary nutrition), maternal and adolescent nutrition, treatment of malnourished children, and promotion of AYUSH practices.

The  Government  is  committed  to  ensure  holistic  development  of  all  children under the age of 6 years, with a focus on building their skills in the key development domains identified under the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) viz., physical/motor, cognitive, socio-emotional-ethical, cultural/artistic, and the development  of  communication  and  early  language,  literacy  and  numeracy  under 'Poshan bhi Padhai bhi' which is in pursuance of the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the ECCE Taskforce established by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) has been launched a s a path breaking ECCE program to help India develop the world's largest, universal, highquality  pre-school  network  at  Anganwadi  Centres,  in  alignment  with  the  National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.As part of the important component of Early Childhood Care and Education, Ministry has placed great importance on development and use of locally available and Do It Yourself toys for early learning at AWCs. All 36 States/ UT's have been paired to facilitate exchange of indigenous toys/folklores as part of the vision for Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.  Detailed guidelines have been drafted and shared with all  States  on  creation of  DIY  toy  kits  as  part  of Teaching  Learning  Material creation workshops. Under PBPB, focus is on including use of activities, play and indigenous and DIY toys for holistic development, through a national program.

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## Annexure I

| State/UT                           |   Total AWCs registered with Poshan Tracker |
|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh                     |                                       55615 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                        5642 |
| Assam                              |                                       61738 |
| Bihar                              |                                      114989 |
| Chhattisgarh                       |                                       51886 |
| Goa                                |                                        1262 |
| Gujarat                            |                                       53027 |
| Haryana                            |                                       25963 |
| Himachal Pradesh                   |                                       18925 |
| Jharkhand                          |                                       38431 |
| Karnataka                          |                                       65909 |
| Kerala                             |                                       33115 |
| Madhya Pradesh                     |                                       97135 |
| Maharashtra                        |                                      110429 |
| Manipur                            |                                       11509 |
| Meghalaya                          |                                        5896 |
| Mizoram                            |                                        2244 |
| Nagaland                           |                                        3980 |
| Odisha                             |                                       74157 |
| Punjab                             |                                       27314 |
| Rajasthan                          |                                       61873 |
| Sikkim                             |                                        1308 |
| Tamil Nadu                         |                                       54442 |
| Telangana                          |                                       35693 |
| Tripura                            |                                       10146 |
| Uttar Pradesh                      |                                      189024 |
| Uttarakhand                        |                                       20088 |
| West Bengal                        |                                      122442 |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |                                         720 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |                                         405 |
| Delhi                              |                                       10899 |
| J&K                                |                                       28119 |
| Ladakh                             |                                        1144 |
| Lakshadweep                        |                                          90 |
| Puducherry                         |                                         855 |
| UT-Chandigarh                      |                                         450 |

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