Lok Sabha Question No. 20 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-02
Subject: Unutilised Fund under Poshan Abhiyaan
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 20

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2024

## UNUTILIZED FUNDS UNDER POSHAN ABHIYAAN

## 20. SHRI RITESH PANDEY

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

- (a) Whether the Government has taken cognizance of the gross underutilization of allocated funds under the Poshan Abhiyaan, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) The  quantum  of  funds  remaining  unutilized  under  the  scheme  since  2018, State/UT-wise and year wise along with the percentage decline based on the five indicators mentioned in the scheme;
- (c) Whether  the  Government  is  contemplating  a  policy  under  the  scheme  that binds the States/UTs to increase their spending to accomplish set targets, if so, the details and if not, reasons therefor;
- (d) Whether the Government intends to analyze the success of the scheme in the districts  which  witnessed  improvements  as  well  as  reversal  to  synergize further implementation of the scheme; and
- (e) Whether the Government plans to modify the district prioritisation method to address the problem of district inequality and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e) Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (henceforth 'Mission Poshan 2.0') is an Integrated Nutrition Support Programme that was launched in 2021 for all the  States/UTs  and  Districts  of  the  country  to  address  the  challenging  situation  of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The mission  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

Poshan 2.0 is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  (CSS)  and  is  implemented  by  the States/Union  Territories  (UTs).  The  budget  allocation  for  the  schemes  is  finalised based on inputs received from the States/UTs regarding their requirements and the trend of expenditure over the previous years. Further, under CSS, States/UTs are required to contribute their corresponding share of funds, incur a minimum of 75% expenditure of total available funds and submit the Statement of Expenditure (SoE)/ Utilization  Certificates  to  enable  the  Ministry  to  release  the  central  share  of  funds. Wherever  the  above  conditions  are  not  met,  release  of  the  central  share  gets affected/delayed  resulting  in  unspent  balance  at  the  end  of  the  financial  year. Nevertheless,  smooth  functioning  and  proper  implementation  of  the  schemes, including utilization of funds, is reviewed periodically through meetings/video conferences  with  States/UTs  and  field  visits.  The  Central  Government  has  been persistent in its efforts to ensure optimum utilisation of funds towards the cause.

The  estimated  number  of  underweight,  malnourished  and  severely  malnourished children under 5 years of age is obtained under National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Wasting has improved from 21% (NFHS-4) to 19.3 % (NFHS-5), Under-weight has improved from 35.7% (NFHS-4) to 32.1% (NFHS5) and stunting has improved from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 35.5% (NFHS-5).

Moreover, as per the data of Poshan Tracker for the month of December 2023, around 7.44 crore children under 6 years were measured, out of whom 36% were found to be stunted and 17% were found to be underweight and 6% children under 5 years were found to be wasted. The levels of underweight and wasting are much less than that projected by NFHS 5.

For ensuring effective implementation and smooth operationalisation of Poshan 2.0, the Ministry has issued Operational Guidelines on 01.08.2022 to all the 36 States/UTs covering all the districts of the country. Moreover, streamlined guidelines were also issued for transparency and accountability in delivery of supplementary nutrition and to track nutritional outcomes on 13.01.2021. A third-party evaluation of all Centrally Sponsored Schemes in Women and Child Development Sector including Anganwadi services, POSHAN Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020. The evaluation found the relevance of Anganwadi  Services  scheme  &  POSHAN  Abhiyaan satisfactory.

Under Poshan 2.0 costing has been earmarked under various components. Moreover, procurement of Smartphones and Growth Monitoring Devices, such as Infantometer, Stadiometer, Weighing Scale etc., are one of the key components under the Mission, wherein, fund utilization can be maximized. In this regard, fresh guidelines have also been issued in January 2023 giving revised technical specifications for procurement of Growth Monitoring Devices by the States/UTs. Incentives are also earmarked for Anganwadi  Workers  undertaking  80%  targeted  growth  measurements  and  60% targeted home visits every month. These are monitored through the ICT application, Poshan Tracker, which captures the data of key services delivered across the country. Technology  under  the  Poshan  Tracker  is  also  being  leveraged  for  dynamic identification of stunting, wasting and underweight prevalence among children and last mile  tracking  of  nutrition  service  delivery.  Poshan  Tracker  enables  near  real-time monitoring  on  defined  indicators.  States/UTs  can  see  their  progress  on  various indicators on the Poshan Tracker dashboard on monthly basis and can make course correction wherever required.

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