Lok Sabha Question No. 3073 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: Inclusion of Anganwadi Workers under AB-PMJAY
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Dulu Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 3073

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2024

## INCLUSION OF ANGANWADI WORKERS UNDER AB-PMJAY

†3073.  SHRI DULU MAHATO:

Will the Minister of women and child development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the inclusion of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers under Ayushamn Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand has helped in increasing the coverage of this scheme, if so, the details thereof in respect of the related schemes and procedure;
- (b) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  maximize  the  benefits  from  this scheme;
- (c) the  manner  in  which  Anganwadi  centres  have  been  equipped  to  provide Integrated Child Development Services under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and its impact in improving the quality of services;
- (d) whether the inclusion of Anganwadi Workers under AB-PMJAY has improved the quality and access to the health services in Dhanbad particularly in remote areas; and
- (e) whether the coverage of health services for children and pregnant women has been increased by this initiative, if so, the details and impact thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) During the interim budget Financial Year (FY) 2024-25 it was announced to extend healthcare annual coverage of Rs. 5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to all Anganwadi workers and helpers. The scheme provides health cover of Rs.5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary  care  hospitalization.  The  scheme  is  being  implemented  through  a  3  tier structure  with  National  Health  Authority  (NHA)  at  the  apex,  State Health  Agencies (SHA) at the State and District Implementation Units (DIUs) at the district level. ABPMJAY is an entitlement based scheme.

National Health Authority (NHA) of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has generated Ayushman Cards for approx 8.15 Lakh Anganwadi Workers and Helpers for all States/ UTs including Jharkhand except for States of Odisha, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi where the State Governments are not implementing AB-PMJAY. The State/UT wise details of beneficiaries covered under PM-JAY are placed at Annexure .

In the 15 th  Finance Commission, components of nutritional support for children below the age of 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers and Adolescent Girls, Early Childhood  Care  and  Education  [3-6  years]  and  Anganwadi  infrastructure  including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi have been reorganised under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 for effective implementation and for better nutritional delivery to end beneficiaries. The package of following six services is provided under Mission Poshan 2.0 through the network of 13.96 Lakh Anganwadi centres (AWCs) across the country:

- i. Supplementary Nutrition (SNP),
- ii. Pre-school Non-formal Education,
- iii. Nutrition & Health Education,
- iv. Immunization,
- v. Health Check-up,
- vi. Referral Services

Three of the six services, viz., Immunization, Health Check-up and Referral Services are related to health and are provided through NHM & Public Health Infrastructure.

In order to improve the infrastructure facility of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) various steps  have been undertaken by the Ministry that,  inter  alia,  include  increasing  the funding for drinking water facilities and toilets at Anganwadi Centres from Rs.10,000/to Rs.17,000/- and Rs.12,000/- to Rs.36,000/- respectively.

Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  there  is  a  provision  of construction of 50000 AWCs buildings over a period of five years @10000 AWCs per year in convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme  (MGNREGS)  @Rs.12  Lakh  per  AWC  wherein  Rs.8.00  Lakh  would  be provided under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 Lakh under 15 th  Finance Commission (FC) (or any other untied funds) and Rs.2.00 Lakh by MWCD per AWC to be shared between Centre and States/UTs in the prescribed cost sharing ratio.

Directions have been issued to States/UTs to co-locate Anganwadi Centres, which are running on rent  without  sufficient  infrastructure,  at  nearby  Primary  Schools,  where space is available.

2 lakh Anganwadi Centres @ 40,000 AWCs per year are to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis for improved nutrition delivery and for imparting early childhood care and education. Saksham Anganwadis are to be 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 equipments.

Further, the Government has also decided to upgrade all Mini AWCs with one worker to full-fledged Anganwadi Centres with one worker and one helper each.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, Anganwadi workers (AWWs) have been technologically empowered with  the  provision  of  smartphones  for  efficient  monitoring  and  service delivery. Poshan Tracker which is a mobile application digitizes physical registers used by Anganwadi workers. This improves the quality of their work while simultaneously allowing them real-time monitoring of all activities going on in the Anganwadis.

In addition to  AWWs,  Smartphones  are  provided  to  Supervisors and Block Coordinators also. Similarly, data recharge support is provided to AWWs, Supervisors and Block Coordinators. Regular monitoring of growth parameters is essential for identifying children who may be malnourished and for making timely interventions. Therefore, Anganwadi centres have been equipped with Growth Monitoring devices like infantometer, stadiometer, weighing scale-infant, weighing scale - Mother & Child.

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## Annexure

Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.3073  to  be  answered  on  13.12.2024  regarding  'Inclusion  of  Anganwadi Workers under AB-PMJAY' asked by Shri Dulu Mahato.

| S.No   | State/UT                           |   Total number of beneficiaries whose Ayushman Card have been created (AWW and AWH) under PM-JAY |
|--------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1      | Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |                                                                                              453 |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh                     |                                                                                            42523 |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                                                                             1544 |
| 4      | Assam                              |                                                                                            59391 |
| 5      | Bihar                              |                                                                                            68581 |
| 6      | Chhattisgarh                       |                                                                                            67829 |
| 7      | Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |                                                                                              507 |
| 8      | Goa                                |                                                                                              629 |
| 9      | Gujarat                            |                                                                                            49002 |
| 10     | Haryana                            |                                                                                            17657 |
| 11     | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                                                                             8128 |
| 12     | J&K                                |                                                                                            34498 |
| 13     | Jharkhand                          |                                                                                            31755 |
| 14     | Karnataka                          |                                                                                            48479 |
| 15     | Kerala                             |                                                                                            24444 |
| 16     | Ladakh                             |                                                                                             1449 |
| 17     | Lakshadweep                        |                                                                                               64 |
| 18     | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                                                                           102411 |
| 19     | Maharashtra                        |                                                                                            70365 |
| 20     | Manipur                            |                                                                                             5739 |
| 21     | Meghalaya                          |                                                                                             4523 |
| 22     | Mizoram                            |                                                                                             2376 |
| 23     | Nagaland                           |                                                                                             4591 |
| 24     | Puducherry                         |                                                                                              395 |
| 25     | Punjab                             |                                                                                            18481 |
| 26     | Rajasthan                          |                                                                                            34874 |
| 27     | Sikkim                             |                                                                                             1227 |
| 28     | Tamil Nadu                         |                                                                                             6990 |
| 29     | Telangana                          |                                                                                            15505 |
| 30     | Tripura                            |                                                                                             7940 |
| 31     | UT-Chandigarh                      |                                                                                              370 |
| 32     | Uttar Pradesh                      |                                                                                            65176 |
| 33     | Uttarakhand                        |                                                                                            18065 |
|        | Total                              |                                                                                           815961 |

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