Lok Sabha Question No. 2088 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-01
Subject: Smart POSHAN Anganwadi Certification
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Smt. Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, Smt. Smita Uday Wagh, Shri Anurag Sharma, Shri Dulu Mahato, Smt. Sandhya Ray, Shri Bhojraj Nag, Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi, Shri Chintamani Maharaj, Shri Jagdambika Pal, Smt. Vijaylakshmi Devi, Shri Alok Sharma, Smt. Roopkumari Choudhary, Dr. Rajesh Mishra, Smt. Kamlesh Jangde, Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Ms Kangna Ranaut, Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Shri P P Chaudhary, Shri Rajkumar Chahar, Dr. Manna Lal Rawat, Shri Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2088

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2025

## SMART POSHAN ANGANWADI CERTIFICATION

2088.  SHRI CHINTAMANI MAHARAJ:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

SHRI DULU MAHATO:

DR. RAJESH MISHRA:

DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT:

SHRI PP CHAUDHARY

SMT. VIJAYLAKSHMI DEVI:

SMT. SANDHYA RAY:

SHRI. VISHWESHWAR HEGDE KAGERI:

SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY:

SHRI SUKHJINDER SINGH RANDHAWA:

SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT:

SHRI JASWANTSINH SUMANBHAI BHABHOR

SHRI BHOJRAJ NAG:

SMT. SMITA UDAY WAGH:

MS. BANSURI SWARAJ:

SHRI ALOK SHARMA:

MS KANGNA RANAUT:

SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:

SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

SHRI CHAVDA VINOD LAKHAMSHI:

SHRI RAJKUMAR CHAHAR:

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

- (a) whether the 'Smart Poshan Anganwadi Certification' has been implemented in the country,  if  so,  the  details  and  status  thereof  indicating  the  number  of  Anganwadi centres certified, State-wise, UT-wise and district-wise;
- (b) whether feedback from Anganwadi and ASHA workers has been received regarding the effectiveness of the awareness sessions conducted during Poshan Pakhwada;
- (c) if so, the details of key findings from these evaluations along with the measures being taken  to  enhance  the  effectiveness  of  the  programme  especially  State-wise  and district-wise;
- (d) whether Anganwadi workers have been trained for Smart Poshan Anganwadi and if so, the details thereof; State-wise including Dahod in Gujarat; and
- (e) whether any new scheme has been proposed for Anganwadi in  Dahod, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (e): Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  as  on  date,  2  lakh Anganwadi  Centres  have  been  approved  to  be  upgraded  as  Saksham  Anganwadis  for improved nutrition delivery and for imparting early childhood care and education. Saksham Anganwadis  are  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.

State wise list of number of Anganwadi Centres that have been approved to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis is placed at Annexure-I.

The Government has also taken a policy decision to upgrade all Mini AWCs to a full-fledged Anganwadi Centres with one worker and one helper each to help in carrying out various responsibilities under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 including responsibilities related to Early Childhood Care & Education. Sanction for upgradation of 1, 11,363 Mini-AWCs to main AWCs has been issued as on 08.07.2025.

Under this Mission, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of good nutrition habit requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. Community-Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices, and all Anganwadi workers  are  required  to  conduct  two  CBEs  every  month.  Under  Jan  Andolan,  Poshan Pakhwada  and  Rashtriya  Poshan  Maah  are  celebrated  annually  in  March-April  and September  respectively,  since  2018.  So  far,  a  total  of  7  Poshan  Maah  and  7  Poshan Pakhwada have been conducted. The States/  UTs  have  reported  more  than  140  crore outreach activities around various thematic areas including importance of maternal nutrition, appropriate techniques of breastfeeding, importance of timely initiation of complimentary feeding, first 1000 days of life, poshan ke panch sutra, anemia, tribal sensitisation, millet promotion, environment protection, ECCE etc., in coordination with more than 18 partner ministries/  departments.  In  2021,  the  World  Bank  surveyed  11  states  to  assess  the program's  delivery  of  nutrition  services.  The  findings  demonstrated  that  the  services delivered through the Poshan Abhiyaan - the receipt of relevant messages, home visits by the anganwadi worker, and attendance at community-based events - were associated and co-related with improved nutrition behaviours. The survey also found that the program's nutrition messages reached more than 80% of women, and that 81% of women practised exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

Under the Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative, the Ministry is imparting training to all the officials and field functionaries in the States/ UTs through a cascading model of training, wherein Master Trainers (namely, District Officers, Block Coordinators and Supervisors) are trained and these master trainers further train all Anganwadi Workers in the field. As on 28 July 2025, 5, 71,667 AWWs have been trained across the country. In the State of Gujarat, 4122 AWWs have been trained for modules under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi initiative.

Details of State and UT wise number of Anganwadi Workers trained under PBPB are placed at Annexure-II.

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## Annexure-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2088 FOR 01.08.2025 REGARDING 'SMART POSHAN ANGANWADI CERTIFICATION'

State wise list of number of Anganwadi Centres that have been approved to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis is as follows:

|   S.No. | State/UT          |   Total No. of AWCs approved for upgradation as on date |
|---------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh    |                                                    9958 |
|       2 | Bihar             |                                                   11529 |
|       3 | Chhattisgarh      |                                                   11490 |
|       4 | Gujarat           |                                                   13147 |
|       5 | Haryana           |                                                    2804 |
|       6 | Himachal Pradesh  |                                                    1030 |
|       7 | Jammu & Kashmir   |                                                     338 |
|       8 | Jharkhand         |                                                   16775 |
|       9 | Karnataka         |                                                   17732 |
|      10 | Kerala            |                                                    4152 |
|      11 | Madhya Pradesh    |                                                   24662 |
|      12 | Maharashtra       |                                                   14745 |
|      13 | Odisha            |                                                   12140 |
|      14 | Punjab            |                                                     353 |
|      15 | Rajasthan         |                                                    3514 |
|      16 | Tamil Nadu        |                                                   11972 |
|      17 | Telangana         |                                                    5008 |
|      18 | Uttar Pradesh     |                                                   23697 |
|      19 | Uttarakhand       |                                                     827 |
|      20 | West Bengal       |                                                    5359 |
|      21 | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                     152 |
|      22 | Assam             |                                                    5407 |
|      23 | Manipur           |                                                      30 |
|      24 | Meghalaya         |                                                     121 |
|      25 | Mizoram           |                                                    1600 |
|      26 | Nagaland          |                                                     149 |
|      27 | Sikkim            |                                                     435 |
|      28 | Tripura           |                                                     474 |
|      29 | Andaman & Nicobar |                                                     140 |
|      30 | Goa               |                                                      24 |
|      31 | Puducherry        |                                                     135 |
|      32 | Chandigarh        |                                                      69 |

| 33   | Ladakh                               |     14 |
|------|--------------------------------------|--------|
| 34   | Delhi                                |      0 |
| 35   | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |      0 |
| 36   | Lakshadweep                          |     18 |
|      | Total                                | 200000 |

## Annexure-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2088 FOR 01.08.2025 REGARDING 'SMART POSHAN ANGANWADI CERTIFICATION'

Details of State/UT-wise number of Anganwadi Workers trained under PBPB as on 28 July 2025 are as follows:

| Name of the States/UTs                   | Number of AWWs trained   |
|------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
| India                                    | 5,71,667                 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands              | 733                      |
| Andhra Pradesh                           | 53328                    |
| Arunachal Pradesh                        | 1377                     |
| Assam                                    | 23180                    |
| Bihar                                    | 90264                    |
| Chandigarh                               | 548                      |
| Chhattisgarh                             | 11071                    |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 240                      |
| Delhi                                    | 10412                    |
| Goa                                      | 1148                     |
| Gujarat                                  | 4122                     |
| Haryana                                  | 8044                     |
| Himachal Pradesh                         | 0                        |
| Jammu and Kashmir                        | 24931                    |
| Jharkhand                                | 11760                    |
| Karnataka                                | 426                      |
| Kerala                                   | 15198                    |
| Ladakh                                   | 1153                     |
| Lakshadweep                              | 0                        |
| Madhya Pradesh                           | 91458                    |
| Maharashtra                              | 36132                    |
| Manipur                                  | 4576                     |
| Meghalaya                                | 2122                     |
| Mizoram                                  | 2357                     |
| Nagaland                                 | 3729                     |
| Odisha                                   | 8722                     |
| Puducherry                               | 616                      |
| Punjab                                   | 7922                     |
| Rajasthan                                | 57948                    |

| Sikkim        | 387      |
|---------------|----------|
| Tamil Nadu    | 445      |
| Telangana     | 0        |
| Tripura       | 3192     |
| Uttar Pradesh | 46432    |
| Uttarakhand   | 5171     |
| West Bengal   | 42522    |
| Total         | 5,71,667 |

*****