Lok Sabha Question No. 1061 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-25
Subject: Status of Adolescent Girls and Children under POSHAN 2.0
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ms Iqra Choudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1061

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2025

## STATUS OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND CHILDREN UNDER POSHAN 2.0

1061.  MS. IQRA CHOUDHARY:

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

- (a) the number of adolescent girls (11-14) in Uttar Pradesh under POSHAN Abhiyan, district-wise;
- (b) the details of Health-IDs created under POSHAN Abhiyaan district-wise;
- (c) the number and percentage of stunted and underweight children (0-5), district wise;
- (d) the details of the amount sanctioned and disbursed for nutritional support to the said State, year-wise; and
- (e) whether any special steps have been  proposed  to improve the nutritional performance on stunting and underweight in the said State, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (e) : Under  the  15th  Finance  Commission,  various  components  like  Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls (of 14-18 years in Aspirational Districts  and  North-Eastern  region)  have  been  subsumed  under  the  umbrella  Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) to address the challenge of malnutrition. It is a Centrally Sponsored mission, where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. This mission is a universal self-selecting umbrella  scheme  where  there  are  no  entry  barriers  for  any  beneficiary  to  register  and receive services. This mission is being implemented across the country.

The objectives of Mission are as follows:

-  To contribute to development of human capital in the country;
-  Address challenge of malnutrition;
-  Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing

Nutrition goes beyond mere eating of food; it requires proper digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients. This process is influenced by factors like sanitation, education and access to safe drinking water. As malnutrition requires a multi-sectoral approach involving dimensions  of  food,  health,  water,  sanitation  and  education,  it  is  crucial  to  effectively address the issue of malnutrition in a convergent manner. It is being addressed under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 by establishing cross cutting convergence amongst 18 Ministries/Departments.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0 a new strategy has been made for reduction in malnutrition and for improved health, wellness and immunity through activities like community engagement, outreach, behavioral change, and advocacy. It focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and wellness through AYUSH practices to reduce prevalence of wasting, stunting, anaemia and being underweight.

Under this mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls to beat the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition by adopting a life cycle approach. Supplementary nutrition is provided in  accordance  with  the  nutrition  norms  contained  in  Schedule-II  of  the  National  Food Security Act. These norms have been revised in January 2023. The old norms were largely calorie-specific;  however,  the  revised  norms are  more  comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity that provides for quality protein, healthy fats and micronutrients.

Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anaemia among women and children. Greater emphasis is being laid on the use of millets at least once a week for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take Home ration at Anganwadi centers.

Ministries  of  Women  &  Child  Development  and  Health  &  Family  Welfare  have  jointly released the protocol for Community Management of Malnutrition (CMAM) to prevent and treat  severely  acute  malnutrition  in  children  and  for  reducing  associated  morbidity  and mortality.

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. State and UTs are conducting and reporting  regular  sensitisation  activities  under  Jan  Andolans  during  Poshan  Maahs  and Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community  Based  Events  (CBEs)  have  served  as  a  significant  strategy  in  changing nutritional  practices  and  all  Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month.

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

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

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 the relevant time.

The projected population of all children up to 5 years in India for the year 2021 is 13.75 crores  approximately  (source:  Population  Projections  for  India  and  States  2011-2036, National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare). However, only 7.36 crores children up to 5 years were enrolled in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development as per the June, 2025 data. 7 crores of these children were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 37.07% of them have been found to be stunted, 15.93% have been found to be underweight and 5.46 percent wasted.

Further, the projected population of all children in India up to 6 years for the year 2021 is approximately 16.1 crores. As per the June, 2025 data of Poshan Tracker, 8.61 crores children (0-6 years) were enrolled in Anganwadis out of whom 8.19 crores were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 35.91% of these children (0-6 years) have been found to be stunted and 16.50% children (0-6 years) have been found to be underweight.

The analysis of the above NFHS data and the Poshan Tracker data shows improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India.

Various  steps  have  been  taken  up  from  time  to  time  to  ensure  uninterrupted  nutrition delivery under Poshan 2.0. Following are some of the initiatives undertaken recently:

-  Ministry  vide  notification  dated  12th  September,  2022  issued  Integrated  Nutrition Support  Programme  -  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  (2.0),  Rules,2022  to regulate the entitlements specified under the provisions of National Food Security Act, 2013 for every pregnant women and lactating mother, till six months after child birth and every child in the age group of six months to six years.
-  District Nutrition Committee (DNC) chaired by the District Collector is envisaged as a critical mechanism for decentralized planning, implementation, and monitoring of nutrition interventions under Mission POSHAN 2.0. To strengthen and institutionalize the functioning of DNCs, specific Guidelines for District Nutrition Committees have been developed, including suggested data templates for regular review meetings. These  guidelines  aim  to  enhance  multi-sectoral  coordination,  improve  service delivery, and ensure targeted actions for improving the nutritional status of women and children at the district level.
-  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 development. Saksham Anganwadis are provided with better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi Centres which includes internet/WiFi  connectivity,  LED  screens,  water purifier/installation  of  RO  Machine and  smart learning equipments.
-  The Government has taken a policy decision to upgrade each Mini AWCs to a fullfledged Anganwadi Centre with one worker and one helper to help in carrying out the various  responsibilities  under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0 including responsibilities related to Early Childhood Care & Education. Sanction for upgradation of 88,716 Mini-AWCs  has been issued till date.
-  Poshan Tracker an ICT tool has been implemented for monitoring and tracking of infrastructure and service delivery at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators.
-  For last mile tracking of Service Delivery, MWCD has developed Facial Recognition System (FRS) for the distribution of Take-Home Ration to ensure that benefit is given only to the intended beneficiary registered in Poshan Tracker. The FRS has been made mandatory for the distribution of THR from 1 st  July, 2025.
-  The PM JANMAN Mission launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs aims for targeted development  of  75  Particularly  Vulnerable  Tribal  Groups  (PVTGs)  residing  in  18 States and a UT. This Mission focuses on 11 critical interventions related to 9 key Ministries including Ministry of Women and Child Development. As on date, a total of 2500 AWCs have been approved for construction under PM JANMAN across the country.
-  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  has  launched  Dharti  Aaba  Janjati  Gram  Unnat  Abhiyan (DAJGUA) aimed at improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities by adopting saturation coverage of tribal families in tribal majority areas and aspirational block ST villages. The intervention of Ministry of Women and Child Development involves  establishment  of  2000  new  Saksham  AWCs  and  upgradation  of  6000 existing AWCs into Saksham AWCs from FY 2024-25 to FY 2028-29.

District wise details of malnutrition indicators for the State of UP for children (0-5 years) for the month of June, 2025 from Poshan Tracker Data are placed at Annexure 1 .

The details of funds released to the State of UP under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 are placed at Annexure II .

District wise details of number of adolescent girls under Mission Poshan 2.0 from Poshan Tracker data are placed at Annexure III .

*****

Annexure I

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 1061 FOR 25.07.2025  REGARDING  'STATUS  OF  ADOLESCENT  GIRLS  AND  CHILDREN  UNDER POSHAN 2.0' ASKED BY MS. IQRA CHOUDHARY

District wise details of malnutrition indicators for the State of UP for children (0-5 years) for the month of June, 2025 from Poshan Tracker Data are as follows:

|   S. No. | District            |   Stunted (%) |   Wasted (%) |   Underweight (%) |
|----------|---------------------|---------------|--------------|-------------------|
|        1 | Agra                |         52.6  |         5.42 |             24.01 |
|        2 | Aligarh             |         45.27 |         5.54 |             18.36 |
|        3 | Ambedkar Nagar      |         46.07 |         5.58 |             19.28 |
|        4 | Amethi              |         42.5  |         5.23 |             20.47 |
|        5 | Amroha              |         53.73 |         5.68 |             23.99 |
|        6 | Auraiya             |         43.74 |         5.76 |             17.32 |
|        7 | Ayodhya             |         45.64 |         4.76 |             17.98 |
|        8 | Azamgarh            |         44.31 |         2.5  |             14.19 |
|        9 | Baghpat             |         44.07 |         3.67 |             17.13 |
|       10 | Bahraich            |         49.45 |         6.39 |             22.16 |
|       11 | Ballia              |         48.46 |         4.65 |             15.1  |
|       12 | Balrampur           |         45.3  |         7.53 |             23.63 |
|       13 | Banda               |         59.33 |         5.38 |             29.6  |
|       14 | Barabanki           |         50.8  |         6.13 |             24.52 |
|       15 | Bareilly            |         54.49 |         3.38 |             20.15 |
|       16 | Basti               |         40.23 |         6.03 |             15.68 |
|       17 | Bhadohi             |         49.41 |         4.46 |             17.54 |
|       18 | Bijnor              |         40.28 |         3.88 |             15.84 |
|       19 | Budaun              |         51.07 |         5.85 |             23.06 |
|       20 | Bulandshahr         |         48.24 |         3.97 |             18.03 |
|       21 | Chandauli           |         44.83 |         2.53 |             14.19 |
|       22 | Chitrakoot          |         59.48 |         7.2  |             29.14 |
|       23 | Deoria              |         46.79 |         5.35 |             17.53 |
|       24 | Etah                |         53.47 |         3.39 |             19.5  |
|       25 | Etawah              |         48.99 |         4.58 |             18.23 |
|       26 | Farrukhabad         |         52.22 |         4.75 |             21.82 |
|       27 | Fatehpur            |         51.06 |         6.13 |             25.73 |
|       28 | Firozabad           |         56.37 |         3.84 |             20.66 |
|       29 | Gautam Buddha Nagar |         37.44 |         5.36 |             14.12 |
|       30 | Ghaziabad           |         42.3  |         3.11 |             14.27 |
|       31 | Ghazipur            |         52.95 |         3.43 |             17.83 |
|       32 | Gonda               |         50.55 |         7.89 |             24.33 |
|       33 | Gorakhpur           |         46.33 |         6.91 |             20.55 |
|       34 | Hamirpur            |         54.72 |         6.16 |             24.43 |

| 35    | Hapur            | 50.79       | 2.36     | 18.54      |
|-------|------------------|-------------|----------|------------|
| 36    | Hardoi           | 51.63       | 5.96     | 24.3       |
| 37    | Hathras          | 46.34       | 5.47     | 18.32      |
| 38    | Jalaun           | 48.15       | 1.67     | 13.57      |
| 39    | Jaunpur          | 54.89       | 5.63     | 22.54      |
| 40    | Jhansi           | 49.09       | 6.07     | 20.25      |
| 41    | Kannauj          | 47.96       | 3.6      | 17.11      |
| 42    | Kanpur Dehat     | 48.91       | 4.56     | 20.46      |
| 43    | Kanpur Nagar     | 38.93       | 5.66     | 17.83      |
| 44    | Kasganj          | 44.52       | 5.76     | 16.94      |
| 45    | Kaushambi        | 50.64       | 4.69     | 19.72      |
| 46    | Kushi Nagar      | 49.67       | 6        | 21.04      |
| 47    | Lakhimpur Kheri  | 44.49       | 2.95     | 17.35      |
| 48    | Lalitpur         | 51.95       | 7.87     | 26.54      |
| 49    | Lucknow          | 51.4        | 5.95     | 23.56      |
| 50    | Maharajganj      | 44.11       | 4.09     | 18.18      |
| 51    | Mahoba           | 51.75       | 4.76     | 18.67      |
| 52    | Mainpuri         | 51.57       | 5.64     | 17.1       |
| 53    | Mathura          | 49.71       | 4.97     | 19.73      |
| 54    | Mau              | 32.88       | 6.26     | 14.25      |
| 55    | Meerut           | 46.96       | 2.35     | 17.3       |
| 56    | Mirzapur         | 52.57       | 4.5      | 22.01      |
| 57    | Moradabad        | 53.14       | 3.97     | 20.98      |
| 58    | Muzaffarnagar    | 50.21       | 4.49     | 20.82      |
| 59    | Pilibhit         | 51.6        | 4.46     | 18.79      |
| 60    | Pratapgarh       | 51.05       | 5.75     | 19.14      |
| 61    | Prayagraj        | 44.51       | 5.75     | 17.99      |
| 62    | Raebareli        | 52.59       | 6.32     | 25.05      |
| 63    | Rampur           | 49.52       | 4.82     | 22.44      |
| 64    | Saharanpur       | 45.68       | 4.32     | 16.89      |
| 65    | Sambhal          | 56.79       | 4.37     | 22.93      |
| 66    | Sant Kabir Nagar | 42.01       | 5.82     | 15.74      |
| 67    | Shahjahanpur     | 46.96       | 4.19     | 19.77      |
| 68    | Shamli           | 48.63       | 3.63     | 18.78      |
| 69    | Shravasti        | 45.78       | 9.09     | 22.85      |
| 70    | Siddharth Nagar  | 52.01       | 11.57    | 27.7       |
| 71    | Sitapur          | 53.58       | 4.03     | 19.51      |
| 72    | Sonbhadra        | 52.91       | 3.76     | 20.95      |
| 73    | Sultanpur        | 50.82       | 6.44     | 19.84      |
| 74 75 | Unnao Varanasi   | 51.58 46.64 | 5.4 2.65 | 24.59 14.6 |

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 1061 FOR 25.07.2025 REGARDING 'STATUS OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND CHILDREN UNDER POSHAN 2.0' ASKED BY MS. IQRA CHOUDHARY

The detail of funds released to the State of UP under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is as follows:

## Funds released in Crores

|    | Name of the States/UT   |   FY 2021- 2022 |   FY 2022- 2023 |   FY 2023- 2024 |   FY 2024- 2025 |
|----|-------------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|  1 | Uttar Pradesh           |         2407.55 |         2721.87 |         2668.69 |         2694.62 |

ANNEXURE-III ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 1061 FOR 25.07.2025 REGARDING 'STATUS OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND CHILDREN

UNDER POSHAN 2.0' ASKED BY MS. IQRA CHOUDHARY District wise details of number of adolescent girls under Mission Poshan 2.0 from Poshan Tracker data as of June, 2025 are as below:

| Districts       |   Total adolescent girls |
|-----------------|--------------------------|
| Bahraich        |                    27122 |
| Balrampur       |                    17378 |
| Chandauli       |                    28248 |
| Chitrakoot      |                     9953 |
| Fatehpur        |                    34613 |
| Shravasti       |                     5136 |
| Siddharth Nagar |                    22661 |
| Sonbhadra       |                    14756 |

*****