Lok Sabha Question No. 3400 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-08
Subject: Implementation of Integrated Child Development Services
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Gumma Thanuja Rani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 3400

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2025

## IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

## 3400. DR. GUMMA THANUJA RANI

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

- (a) whether  the  Integrated  Child  Development  Services  (ICDS)  scheme  is  being effectively implemented in rural areas;

- (b) if so, the number of children and women benefiting under the ICDS scheme during the last year, State-wise including Andhra Pradesh;

- (c) whether there have been any issues related to the delivery of services under ICDS, such as delays/shortages; and

- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof,  along  with  the  actions  taken  to  address  these  issues  and improve service delivery?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) Under the 15 th Finance Commission to address the challenge of malnutrition, various components like Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) into the three primary verticals as given below:

- [ ] Nutrition Support for POSHAN through Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) for children of the age group of 6 months to 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers (PWLM); and for Adolescent Girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years in Aspirational Districts and North Eastern Region (NER);

- [ ] Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years] and early childhood care & stimulation for (0-3 years);

- [ ] Anganwadi Infrastructure including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi;

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, Supplementary nutrition is provided to beneficiaries 300 days in a year through a network of Anganwadi Centers located across the country for bridging the gap between the actual intake and the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI).

Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under Poshan Tracker to improve governance. As part of leveraging  technology,  the  'Poshan  Tracker'  is  a  robust  ICT  enabled  platform  to  improve governance in regard to real time supervision and management of services. Further, to ensure last  mile  tracking  of  service  delivery,  SMS alerts to  beneficiaries have been introduced on delivery of Take Home Ration (THR). Further, Facial Recognition System (FRS) has been made mandatory for availing the benefit of THR. Toll-free Poshan Helpline (14408) has also been introduced for grievance redressal under this scheme.

Streamlining  Guidelines  have  been  issued  by  MWCD  on  Quality  Assurance,  Roles  and Responsibilities of Duty Holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts and Data Management and Monitoring through Poshan Tracker for transparency, efficiency and  accountability  in  delivery  of  Supplementary  Nutrition.  Nutritional  Status  and  Quality Standards of food items under Supplementary Nutrition, Transparency are being monitored in Supply Chain Management at State, District and Village Level.

A 'Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children - CMAM Protocol' has been launched providing detailed steps for identification and management of malnourished children at the Anganwadi level, including decision-making for referral, nutritional management and followup care.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan to educate people on nutritional aspects. IEC material in the form of videos, pamphlets, flyers etc., in regional languages have also been developed  around  critical  themes.  Social  &  Behavioural  Changes  have  been  inculcated  by conducting Community Based Events, Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada in convergence with various Ministries/ Departments and other stakeholders.

Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutrition practices. CBEs help to celebrate critical milestones in the life of pregnant women and children below two years of age and to disseminate critical information on, inter alia, right time to ensure appropriate  complementary  feeding  with  diet  diversity.  Community  based  events  such  as Annaprasan Diwas, Suposan Diwas (specifically focused on orienting husbands), Celebrating coming of age - getting ready for pre-school at AWC, Messages related to public health for improvement of nutrition and to reduce illness, Anaemia WASH etc. are celebrated/ discussed.

State/UT wise details of children and women benefitting under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 as per Poshan Tracker data as on July, 2024 is placed at Annexure .

*****

Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  Parts  (a)  to  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question No.3400 to be answered on 08.08.2025 regarding 'Implementation of Integrated Child Development Services'

Details of women and children as per Poshan Tracker data as on July, 2024:

| S.No   | State/UTs                        | Children(0- 6y)   | Total Women (Pregnant Women+ Lactating Mothers)   |
|--------|----------------------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| 1      | Assam                            | 2846298           | 209440                                            |
| 2      | Uttar Pradesh                    | 19566561          | 2701815                                           |
| 3      | Rajasthan                        | 3756261           | 612453                                            |
| 4      | Delhi                            | 564242            | 118851                                            |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh                     | 2252756           | 299357                                            |
| 6      | Andhra Pradesh                   | 2679400           | 471231                                            |
| 7      | Uttarakhand                      | 656401            | 117616                                            |
| 8      | Goa                              | 49819             | 7767                                              |
| 9      | Punjab                           | 1418609           | 182196                                            |
| 10     | Mizoram                          | 107944            | 9770                                              |
| 11     | UT-Chandigarh                    | 37919             | 6608                                              |
| 12     | Bihar                            | 9699352           | 1030341                                           |
| 13     | Jharkhand                        | 2886628           | 285892                                            |
| 14     | Odisha                           | 3467165           | 494586                                            |
| 15     | Puducherry                       | 29525             | 6432                                              |
| 16     | Telangana                        | 1798120           | 194446                                            |
| 17     | Tripura                          | 301889            | 28262                                             |
| 18     | Meghalaya                        | 370956            | 14751                                             |
| 19     | Haryana                          | 1754547           | 231207                                            |
| 20     | West Bengal                      | 7753936           | 975180                                            |
| 21     | Arunachal Pradesh                | 80987             | 4441                                              |
| 22     | Nagaland                         | 107685            | 3278                                              |
| 23     | Himachal Pradesh                 | 491275            | 71059                                             |
| 24     | Tamil Nadu                       | 3555264           | 511769                                            |
| 25     | Madhya Pradesh                   | 6668072           | 835061                                            |
| 26     | J&K                              | 733200            | 83358                                             |
| 27     | Andaman &Nicobar Islands         | 10873             | 1422                                              |
| 28     | Lakshadweep                      | 3655              | 794                                               |
| 29     | Gujarat                          | 3118233           | 413929                                            |
| 30     | Maharashtra                      | 6181015           | 626546                                            |
| 31     | Manipur                          | 264793            | 18588                                             |
| 32     | Ladakh                           | 16667             | 1594                                              |
| 33     | Karnataka                        | 3691084           | 486109                                            |
| 34     | Kerala                           | 1932489           | 222304                                            |
| 35     | Sikkim                           | 30773             | 2847                                              |
| 36     | Dadra &Nagar Haveli - Daman &Diu | 33748             | 5899                                              |
| Total  | Total                            | 8,89,18,141       | 1,12,87,199                                       |