Lok Sabha Question No. 772 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-07
Subject: AWWs/AWHs  Covered under AB-PMJAY
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Shashank Mani, Shri Basavaraj Bommai

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 772

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2025

## AWWS/AWHS COVERED UNDER AB-PMJAY

772.   SHRI SHASHANK MANI: SHRI BASAVARAJ BOMMAI:

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

- (a) whether the coverage of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY)  has  been  expanded  to  include  Anganwadi  Workers  (AWWs)  and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) to improve their access to healthcare services across the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  number  of  beneficiaries  covered  and benefitted thereunder along with the timeline for its implementation, State-wise and district-wise for Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) whether  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  is  playing  a  role  in  establishing  wellequipped  and  modernized  anganwadi  centres  for  delivering  Integrated  Child Services  such  as  nutrition,  early  education  and  healthcare  across  the  country especially in Karnataka;
- (d) if so, the details thereof including the progress made under the Mission and the specific challenges, if any, being faced and addressed; and
- (e) the details of Monetary incentive paid and pending to AWWs/AWHs during the last five years, State-wise specially in Andhra Pradesh?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e)  During the interim budget Financial Year (FY) 2024-25 it was announced to extend healthcare annual coverage of Rs. 5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri  Jan  Arogya  Yojana  (AB-PMJAY)  to  all  Anganwadi  workers  and  helpers.  The scheme provides health cover of Rs.5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. The scheme is being implemented through a 3 tier structure with National Health Authority (NHA) at the apex, State Health Agencies (SHA) at the State and District Implementation Units (DIUs) at the district level. AB-PMJAY is an entitlement based scheme.

National Health Authority (NHA) of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has generated Ayushman  Cards  for  approx  10.58  Lakh  Anganwadi  Workers  and  Helpers  as  on  3 rd

February, 2024 for all States/ UTs including Andhra Pradesh except for States of Odisha, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi where the State Governments are not implementing ABPMJAY. The State/UT wise details of beneficiaries covered under PM-JAY are placed at Annexure I.

In the 15 th  Finance Commission, components of nutritional support for children below the age  of  6  years,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers  and  Adolescent  Girls,  Early Childhood  Care  and  Education  [3-6  years]  and  Anganwadi  infrastructure  including modern,  upgraded  Saksham  Anganwadi  have  been  reorganised  under  the  umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 for effective implementation and for better nutritional delivery to end beneficiaries. The package of following six services is provided under Mission Poshan 2.0 through the network of 13.96 Lakh Anganwadi centres (AWCs) across the country:

- i. Supplementary Nutrition (SNP),
- ii. Pre-school Non-formal Education,
- iii. Nutrition & Health Education,
- iv. Immunization,
- v. Health Check-up,
- vi. Referral Services

Three of the six services, viz., Immunization, Health Check-up and Referral Services are related to health and are provided through NHM & Public Health Infrastructure.

In order to improve the infrastructure facility of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) various steps have been undertaken by the Ministry that, inter alia, include increasing the funding for drinking water facilities and toilets at Anganwadi Centres from Rs.10,000/- to Rs.17,000/and Rs.12,000/- to Rs.36,000/- respectively.

Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, there is a provision of construction of  50000  AWCs  buildings  over  a  period  of  five  years  @10000  AWCs  per  year  in convergence  with  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme (MGNREGS) @Rs.12 Lakh per AWC wherein Rs.8.00 Lakh are to be provided under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 Lakh under 15 th  Finance Commission (FC) (or any other untied funds) and Rs.2.00 Lakh by the Ministry of Women & Child Development per AWC to be shared between Centre and States/UTs in the prescribed cost sharing ratio.

Directions have been issued to States/UTs to co-locate Anganwadi Centres, which are running on rent  without  sufficient  infrastructure,  at  nearby  Primary  Schools,  wherever space is available.

2 lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) located in Government buildings @ 40,000 AWCs per year  are  to  be  strengthened  and  upgraded  as  Saksham  Anganwadis  for  improved nutrition delivery and for Early Childhood Care and Education under Mission Saksham Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0.  Saksham  Anganwadis  are  to  be  provided  with  better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi Centres including LED screens, water purifier/installation  of  RO  Machine,  Poshan  Vatika,  ECCE  related  books  and  learning material etc. As on date, 2 Lakh Anganwadi Centres has been sanctioned for upgradation into Saksham Anganwadi Centres including 17,732 in the State of Karnataka.

Further, Government has also decided to upgrade all Mini AWCs with one worker to fullfledged Anganwadi Centres with one worker and one helper each.

Under  Mission  Poshan  2.0,  Anganwadi  workers  (AWWs)  have  been  technologically empowered  with  the  provision  of  smartphones  for  efficient  monitoring  and  service delivery. Poshan Tracker which is a mobile application that digitizes physical registers used by Anganwadi workers. This improves the quality of their work while simultaneously allowing them real-time monitoring of all activities going on in the Anganwadis. A total of 12.56 Lakh smartphones are available across the country.

In addition to AWWs, Smartphones are provided to Supervisors and Block Coordinators also.  Similarly,  data  recharge  support  is  provided  to  AWWs,  Supervisors  and  Block Coordinators.

Regular monitoring of growth parameters of height and weight is essential for identifying children  who  may  be  malnourished  and  for  making  timely  interventions.  Therefore, Anganwadi centres have been equipped with Growth Monitoring devices like infantometer, stadiometer, weighing scale-infant, weighing scale - Mother & Child.

One of the key elements of the Mission Poshan 2.0 is incentivizing Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) monthly for optimal delivery of nutrition and health services and supporting behaviour change during pregnancy and until the child is two years of age.

There is a provision of incentives for the field functionaries for accomplishing expected regular tasks as specified in guidelines issued to States/UTs by the Ministry. Anganwadi workers and Anganwadi helpers are eligible for Rs 500/- per month and Rs 250/- per month as performance linked incentives.

The year- wise details of the funds released under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Including incentives) from FY 2019-20 to FY 2023-24 as on 31.03.2024 are placed at Annexure II.

*****

Annexure I

Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.772 to be answered on 07.02.2025 regarding 'AWWs/AWHs Covered under ABPMJAY'

| S.No State/UT                        | Total number of AWWs & AWHs whose Ayushman Card have been created under PM-JAY   |
|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1Andaman & Nicobar Islands           | 302                                                                              |
| 2Andhra Pradesh                      | 55,877                                                                           |
| 3Arunachal Pradesh                   | 2,149                                                                            |
| 4Assam                               | 74,616                                                                           |
| 5Bihar                               | 95,623                                                                           |
| 6Chhattisgarh                        | 90,541                                                                           |
| 7 Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu | 665                                                                              |
| 8Goa                                 | 1,007                                                                            |
| 9Gujarat                             | 65,867                                                                           |
| 10Haryana                            | 22,405                                                                           |
| 11Himachal Pradesh                   | 8,879                                                                            |
| 12J&K                                | 44,654                                                                           |
| 13Jharkhand                          | 42,548                                                                           |
| 14Karnataka                          | 73,872                                                                           |
| 15Kerala                             | 32,355                                                                           |
| 16Ladakh                             | 1,842                                                                            |
| 17Lakshadweep                        | 83                                                                               |
| 18Madhya Pradesh                     | 1,33,586                                                                         |
| 19Maharashtra                        | 82,786                                                                           |
| 20Manipur                            | 6,355                                                                            |
| 21Meghalaya                          | 4,667                                                                            |
| 22Mizoram                            | 2,632                                                                            |
| 23Nagaland                           | 5,813                                                                            |
| 24Puducherry                         | 532                                                                              |
| 25Punjab                             | 22,959                                                                           |
| 26Rajasthan                          | 34,295                                                                           |
| 27Sikkim                             | 522                                                                              |
| 28Tamil Nadu                         | 9,183                                                                            |
| 29Telangana                          | 20,459                                                                           |
| 30Tripura                            | 11,221                                                                           |
| 31UT-Chandigarh                      | 629                                                                              |
| 32Uttar Pradesh                      | 85,277                                                                           |
| 33Uttarakhand                        | 24,091                                                                           |

Annexure II

Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.772 to be answered on 07.02.2025 regarding 'AWWs/AWHs Covered under ABPMJAY'

Details of fund released and utilized under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 during last five years is as under:

(Rupees in crores )

| S N   | Name of the State/UT                 | 2019-20         | 2019-20        | 2020-21         | 2020-21        | 2021-22         | 2021-22        | 2022-23         | 2022-23        | 2023-24         |
|-------|--------------------------------------|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|
|       |                                      | Funds r eleased | Funds Utilized | Funds releas ed | Fund utilise d | Funds releas ed | Fund ut ilised | Funds releas ed | Fund utilise d | Funds r eleased |
| 1     | Andaman and Nicobar Island s         | 14.98           | 13.34          | 16.37           | 6.37           | 19.71           | 13.36          | 3.85            | 5.17           | 12.15           |
| 2     | Andhra Prades h                      | 825.24          | 686.20         | 701.82          | 763.99         | 744.60          | 749.91         | 827.79          | 721.45         | 705.68          |
| 3     | Arunachal Pra desh                   | 134.71          | 134.79         | 82.92           | 65.01          | 170.83          | 230.77         | 137.78          | 145.74         | 162.06          |
| 4     | Assam                                | 1365.53         | 1241.33        | 1109.75         | 1255.72        | 1319.90         | 1432.19        | 1651.63         | 1717.00        | 2233.31         |
| 5     | Bihar                                | 1539.37         | 1253.87        | 1288.98         | 1444.36        | 1574.43         | 1608.02        | 1740.09         | 1586.61        | 1859.29         |
| 6     | Chandigarh                           | 17.03           | 13.30          | 13.35           | 16.08          | 15.32           | 23.09          | 33.10           | 33.10          | 19.79           |
| 7     | Chhattisgarh                         | 483.88          | 548.81         | 513.95          | 542.07         | 606.73          | 522.72         | 668.96          | 571.80         | 579.46          |
| 8     | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | 17.20           | 8.24           | 9.02            | 9.02           | 9.33            | 9.56           | 5.80            | 5.80           | 11.97           |
| 9     | Delhi                                | 133.06          | 140.49         | 102.70          | 139.84         | 133.11          | 125.52         | 182.77          | 142.84         | 161.81          |
| 10    | Goa                                  | 16.02           | 17.02          | 20.44           | 17.46          | 10.84           | 12.92          | 14.71           | 16.83          | 13.95           |
| 11    | Gujarat                              | 854.00          | 725.25         | 633.13          | 873.79         | 839.86          | 757.92         | 912.64          | 552.30         | 1126.80         |
| 12    | Haryana                              | 181.00          | 149.87         | 185.29          | 232.54         | 173.03          | 146.99         | 195.25          | 150.24         | 225.78          |
| 13    | Himachal Prad esh                    | 251.82          | 295.25         | 258.55          | 295.89         | 247.99          | 386.68         | 270.24          | 247.76         | 301.09          |
| 14    | Jammu & Kas hmir                     | 332.85          | 328.31         | 294.17          | 450.82         | 405.74          | 704.57         | 479.01          | 416.23         | 530.88          |
| 15    | Jharkhand                            | 436.10          | 455.87         | 464.33          | 348.68         | 352.98          | 183.30         | 430.91          | 596.03         | 664.30          |
| 16    | Karnataka                            | 861.87          | 916.51         | 697.17          | 1012.84        | 1003.70         | 984.62         | 765.87          | 885.65         | 912.96          |
| 17    | Kerala                               | 321.42          | 331.23         | 352.03          | 384.79         | 388.23          | 397.98         | 444.98          | 325.43         | 306.64          |
| 18    | Ladakh                               | 0.00            | 0.00           | 24.18           | 24.69          | 14.70           | 14.67          | 18.79           | 18.79          | 19.62           |
| 19    | Lakshadweep                          | 2.59            | 1.27           | 3.06            | 2.06           | 2.11            | 2.73           | 0.44            | 0.44           | 2.88            |
| 20    | Madhya Prade sh                      | 1225.60         | 1276.10        | 1238.06         | 1125.20        | 1085.47         | 1055.83        | 1011.57         | 1038.67        | 1123.11         |
| 21    | Maharashtra                          | 1669.40         | 1416.45        | 1205.99         | 1517.51        | 1713.39         | 1609.02        | 1646.17         | 1589.97        | 1699.52         |
| 22    | Manipur                              | 162.54          | 142.27         | 175.77          | 148.45         | 228.92          | 177.28         | 135.95          | 167.74         | 201.28          |
| 23    | Meghalaya                            | 225.66          | 181.19         | 177.92          | 185.25         | 173.33          | 177.86         | 192.39          | 200.24         | 269.69          |

| 24    | Mizoram       |    63.26 | 56.45                            | 74.60                            | 64.67                            | 59.32                            |    61.57 | 42.81              | 46.65              |   100.27 |
|-------|---------------|----------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------|--------------------|--------------------|----------|
| 25    | Nagaland      |   178.92 | 169.55                           | 167.23                           | 169.19                           | 159.80                           |   160.21 | 199.30             | 190.47             |   262.91 |
| 26    | Odisha        |   860.66 | 892.46                           | 858.68                           | 896.85                           | 1065.98                          |   871.2  | 923.92             | 884.92             |   968.8  |
| 27    | Puducherry    |     9.86 | 8.45                             | 4.38                             | 3.50                             | 2.78                             |     6.13 | 0.12               | 6.68               |     4.48 |
| 28    | Punjab        |   201.44 | 175.11                           | 174.71                           | 207.82                           | 383.52                           |   177.94 | 75.31              | 247.25             |   307.87 |
| 29    | Rajasthan     |   673.95 | 665.42                           | 641.77                           | 702.90                           | 682.65                           |   771.64 | 974.02             | 936.17             |  1091.96 |
| 30    | Sikkim        |    29.47 | 33.70                            | 24.50                            | 26.06                            | 25.73                            |    24.59 | 20.33              | 24.09              |    33.49 |
| 31    | Tamil Nadu    |   764.73 | 652.94                           | 619.43                           | 695.85                           | 655.38                           |   681.28 | 766.81             | 741.30             |   880.79 |
| 32    | Telangana     |   529.96 | 420.08                           | 405.32                           | 564.04                           | 482.33                           |   479.3  | 550.69             | 503.33             |   507.87 |
| 33    | Tripura       |   166.47 | 164.05                           | 154.16                           | 177.85                           | 186.72                           |   171.66 | 150.52             | 186.55             |   244.22 |
| 34    | Uttar Pradesh |  2544    | 2480.79                          | 2017.49                          | 1925.75                          | 2407.55                          |  2341.91 | 2721.87            | 2622.64            |  2668.69 |
| 35    | Uttarakhand   |   373.96 | 378.21                           | 327.92                           | 350.07                           | 353.65                           |   336.03 | 425.84             | 364.77             |   288.24 |
| 36    | West Bengal   |  1165.26 | 1321.90                          | 1066.64                          | 897.89                           | 668.35                           |  1378.31 | 1227.59            | 1455.89            |  1237.56 |
| Total | Total         | 18633.8  | 17696.0716105.7817544.8718368.01 | 17696.0716105.7817544.8718368.01 | 17696.0716105.7817544.8718368.01 | 17696.0716105.7817544.8718368.01 | 18789.3  | 19849.8 2 19346.54 | 19849.8 2 19346.54 | 21741.2  |

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