Lok Sabha Question No. 3120 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-09
Subject: Enrollment of Children under ICDS
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Shri Haribhai Patel, Shri Praveen Patel, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3120

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2024

## ENROLLMENT OF CHILDREN UNDER ICDS

## 3120    DR SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

## SHRI HARIBHAI PATEL: SHRI PRAVEEN PATEL: SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE:

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

- (a) the details of the data on children and mothers benefited from Integrated Child Development Schemes (ICDS) program during the last three years particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat;
- (b) the details of the funds allocated and utilized for ICDS during the last three financial years, State-wise including Gujarat;
- (c) the details of the data on the nutritional improvements observed in children enrolled in ICDS and the comparative analysis thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has taken any steps to further improve the infrastructure and quality of services under ICDS; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a): The number of children and mothers benefited from the Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan  2.0  [earlier  known  as  Umbrella  Integrated  Child  Development  Services  (ICDS) Scheme] for the last three years in the State of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat is given in the following table:

|               | 2021-22                                   | 2021-22                                                    | 2022-23                                              | 2022-23                                              | 2023-24                                                  | 2023-24                                               |
|---------------|-------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| State         | Number registered Children months- years) | of (6 6 Number registered Pregnant women lactating mothers | of & Number of registered Children (6 months- years) | 6 Number registered Pregnant women lactating mothers | of & Number of registered Children (6 months- 6 years) & | Number of registered Pregnant women lactating mothers |
| Gujarat       | 3560600                                   | 726808                                                     | 3214441                                              | 518129                                               | 3129495                                                  | 413036                                                |
| Maharashtra   | 6459713                                   | 1022450                                                    | 6251221                                              | 820903                                               | 6057253                                                  | 616174                                                |
| Uttar Pradesh | 15823305                                  | 3395099                                                    | 17170999                                             | 3297461                                              | 18616704                                                 | 2702146                                               |

(b):  The  State-wise  details  of  the  funds  allocated  and  utilized  under  Mission  Saksham Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  during  the  last  three  financial  years  including  Gujarat  are  at Annexure .

(c): Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators for children under 5 years since NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 are given below:

| NFHS Survey         |   Underweight% |   Wasting% |   Stunting% |
|---------------------|----------------|------------|-------------|
| NFHS-1 (1992-93)*   |           53.4 |       17.5 |        52   |
| NFHS-2 (1998-99)**  |           47   |       15.5 |        45.5 |
| NFHS-3 (2005-6)***  |           42.5 |       19.8 |        48   |
| NFHS-4 (2015-16)*** |           35.8 |       21   |        38.4 |
| NFHS-5 (2019-21)*** |           32.1 |       19.3 |        35.5 |

* Under 4 years

** Under 3 years

*** Under 5 years

The above table gives a representative picture of malnutrition indicators among all children of 0-3 years, 0-4 years and 0-5 years age at that time. The table shows that level of malnutrition among children has been generally coming down during the last 30 years.

The projected population of all children up to 5 years in India for the year 2021 is 13.75 crore (source:  Population  Projections  for  India  and  States  2011-2036,  National  Commission  on Population, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare). However, only 7.65 crore children up to 5 years are enrolled in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development as per June 2024 data of Poshan Tracker. 7.37 crore of these children were measured on growth parameters. 36.5% of these children have been found to be stunted, 16.4% children have been found to be underweight and 6% children have been found to be wasted.

Further, the projected population of all children in India up to 6 years for the year 2021 is 16.1 crore. As per June 2024 data of Poshan Tracker, 8.91 crore children (0-6 years) are enrolled in Anganwadis out of whom 8.57 crore children were measured on growth parameters. 35.6% of these children (0-6 years) have been found to be stunted and 17.2% children (0-6 years) have been found to be underweight.

(d) & (e):  To improve infrastructure at the existing Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) across the country  various  efforts  have  been  made.  In  order  to  rationalise  the  number  of  Anganwadi centres  across  the  country  vis-à-vis  the  registered  beneficiaries,  Government  of  India  has, directed  States/UTs  to  co-locate  Anganwadi  Centres,  which  are  running  on  rent  without sufficient  infrastructure,  at  nearby  Primary  Schools,  where  space  is  available  Further,  the Government  has  decided  to  upgrade  all  Mini  AWCs  with  one  worker  to  a  full-  fledged Anganwadi Centre with one worker and one helper.

During the 15th Finance Commission cycle, 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  education  (ECCE).  Saksham  Anganwadis  are  to  be  provided  with infrastructure  better  than  the  conventional  Anganwadi  Centres  including  internet/Wi-Fi connectivity through Bharat Net (wherever possible), LED screens, water purifier/installation of RO Machine, Poshan Vatika, ECCE books and learning material etc.

Under  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS) component, beginning from FY 2021-22, 50000 AWCs building are to be constructed over a period of five years @10000 AWCs per year. The cost norms for construction of Anganwadi Centres in convergence with MGNREGS have been revised to Rs.12 Lakh per AWC wherein Rs.8.00 Lakh would be provided under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 Lakh under 15th 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.

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 1st March, 2021 as an important governance tool. The Poshan Tracker facilitates monitoring and tracking of all AWCs, AWWs and beneficiaries on defined indicators. Technology under Poshan  Tracker  is  being  leveraged  for  dynamic  identification  of  prevalence  of  stunting, wasting, under-weight among children. The mobile application has also facilitated digitization and automation of physical registers used by AWWs that helps in improving their quality of work.  Poshan  Tracker  is  available  in  24  languages  including  Hindi  and  English.  It  has facilitated  near real  time  data  collection  for  Anganwadi Services such as, daily  attendance, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Provision of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR-not raw ration), Growth Measurement etc.

Government has launched Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative on 10 th May, 2023 for upskilling of all anganwadi workers across the country to build their capacity to provide ECCE and nutrition service to the children below six years of age. Under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi, 13,761 State Level Master Trainers [Child  Development Project Officers  (CDPOs), Supervisors and Additional Resource Persons] have been trained across the country as on date.

## *******

Statement  with  regard  to  part  (b)  of  Lok  Sabha  Un-Starred  Question  No.  3120  On 'Enrollment  of  Children  under  ICDS'  raised  by    Dr.Shrikant  Eknath  Shinde  & Others  due for answer on 09.08.2024

(Rupees in lakhs)

| Name of the State/UT         | Mission Poshan 2.0   | Mission Poshan 2.0   | Mission Poshan 2.0   | Mission Poshan 2.0   | Mission Poshan 2.0   |
|------------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|                              | 2021-22              | 2021-22              | 2022-23              | 2022-23              | 2023-24 *            |
|                              | Funds released       | Fund utilised        | Funds released       | Fund utilised        | Funds released       |
| 1Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 1971.15              | 1336.46              | 384.98               | 384.98               | 1215.15              |
| 2Andhra Pradesh              | 74460.38             | 74990.85             | 82778.78             | 72144.95             | 70568.20             |
| 3Arunachal Pradesh           | 17082.84             | 23076.54             | 13778.25             | 14574.30             | 16206.09             |
| 4Assam                       | 131989.88            | 143219.22            | 165162.57            | 171700.43            | 223331.30            |
| 5Bihar                       | 157443.07            | 160801.50            | 174009.24            | 158660.63            | 185928.90            |
| 6Chandigarh                  | 1532.18              | 2308.52              | 3309.90              | 3432.56              | 1979.45              |
| 7Chattisgarh                 | 60673.15             | 52272.36             | 66896.43             | 57180.10             | 57945.59             |
| 8Dadra &Nagar Haveli and     | 933.39               | 955.91               | 579.95               | 579.95               | 1196.64              |
| 9Delhi                       | 13310.70             | 12552.28             | 18277.00             | 14283.72             | 16181.26             |
| 10Goa                        | 1083.56              | 1291.72              | 1470.85              | 1683.08              | 1394.69              |
| 11Gujarat                    | 83985.65             | 75792.18             | 91264.39             | 55230.40             | 112680.34            |
| 12Haryana                    | 17303.35             | 14698.80             | 19524.92             | 15024.32             | 22578.36             |
| 13Himachal Pradesh           | 24798.74             | 38667.93             | 27023.89             | 24775.74             | 30108.79             |
| 14Jammu&                     | 40573.74             | 70456.92             | 47901.11             | 41622.77             | 53088.35             |
| 15Jharkhand                  | 35297.77             | 18330.29             | 43091.04             | 59603.28             | 66430.42             |
| 16Karnataka                  | 100370.19            | 98461.76             | 76586.95             | 88564.69             | 91296.49             |
| 17Kerala                     | 38822.74             | 39797.90             | 44497.62             | 32543.44             | 30664.43             |
| 18Ladakh                     | 1469.55              | 1467.45              | 1878.52              | 1878.52              | 1962.01              |
| 19Lakshadweep                | 210.52               | 272.64               | 44.18                | 44.18                | 288.11               |
| 20Madhya Pradesh             | 108546.91            | 105582.95            | 101157.08            | 103867.03            | 112311.11            |
| 21Maharashtra                | 171338.93            | 160901.59            | 164616.98            | 158997.32            | 169951.77            |
| 22Manipur                    | 22892.04             | 17728.41             | 13595.43             | 16773.59             | 20127.94             |
| 23Meghalaya                  | 17332.82             | 17786.35             | 19239.17             | 20024.05             | 26968.59             |
| 24Mizoram                    | 5931.57              | 6157.21              | 4280.74              | 5302.24              | 10026.87             |
| 25Nagaland                   | 15980.27             | 16020.96             | 19929.81             | 19046.91             | 26290.93             |
| 26Odisha                     | 106598.46            | 87120.18             | 92392.36             | 88496.28             | 96879.90             |
| 27Puducherry                 | 277.80               | 612.87               | 11.55                | 667.88               | 447.72               |

| 28Punjab        |        38351.68 |         17793.83 |          7530.84 |         24724.93 |         30787.13 |
|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
| 29Rajasthan     |  68264.6        |  77164.2         |  97401.8         |  93617           | 109196           |
| 30Sikkim        |   2573.06       |   2459.08        |   2032.69        |   2408.62        |   3348.65        |
| 31Tamil Nadu    |  65538.1        |  68127.9         |  76680.7         |  74129.8         |  88078.9         |
| 32Telangana     |  48232.7        |  47929.9         |  55068.8         |  50333.1         |  50786.9         |
| 33Tripura       |  18672.5        |  17165.5         |  15051.9         |  18654.9         |  24422.4         |
| 34Uttar Pradesh | 240755          | 234191           | 272187           | 262264           | 266869           |
| 35Uttarakhand   |  35365.2        |  33602.6         |  42584.5         |  36477.1         |  28823.9         |
| 36West Bengal   |  66835.2        | 137830           | 122759           | 145589           | 123756           |
| Total           |      1.8368e+06 |      1.87893e+06 |      1.98498e+06 |      1.93529e+06 |      2.17412e+06 |

*Utilisation of funds released to the States/UTs during FY 2023-24 is not due.

*******