Lok Sabha Question No. 272 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: Poshan Tracker Programme
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Vinod Kumar Bind, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 272

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2024

## POSHAN TRACKER PROGRAMME

- *272.  SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI DR. VINOD KUMAR BIND:

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

- (a) whether the Government is implementing the Poshan Abhiyan for children in the country, if so, the details and the salient features thereof;
- (b) the details of the Poshan Tracker Program and the manner in which the said programme effectively monitors the growth and nutritional status of children, State-wise including Amroha Parliamentary Constituency in Uttar Pradesh and Jalgaon Parliamentary Constituency in Maharashtra;
- (c) the details of the achievements made by the Government in the implementation of  the  said  programme in  the  country  and  the  manner in  which  it  has  been adopted in the above mentioned Constituencies;
- (d) the  number  of  children  being  measured  in  a  month  through  routine  growth monitoring  under  the  said  programme  along  with  the  implications  of  these measurements for addressing malnutrition in the above mentioned areas; and
- (e) the  manner  in  which  the  success  of  Poshan  Tracker  Programme  will  be leveraged to improve child health outcomes in Maharashtra including rural and underdeveloped areas like the above mentioned region?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*******

## Statement referred to in reply to Part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 272 to be answered on 13.12.2024 regarding 'Poshan Tracker Programme' asked by Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Dr. Vinod Kumar Bind.

- (a)  Poshan  Abhiyaan  was  launched  in  March  2018.  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  of implementation and day-to-day execution of activities is with the States and UTs.

This is a universal, self-selecting (no entry barriers) scheme available to all the eligible beneficiaries who enroll at the Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) and is being implemented in all States/UTs.

The objectives of Mission are as follows:

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

Under this Mission, 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 scheme, 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 and upgraded last year. 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 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 for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal at least once a week 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  leading  to  a  Jan  Andolan  to  educate people on nutritional aspects. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation activities under community engagement programmes 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.

(b)  to  (e)  IT  systems  have  been  leveraged  to  strengthen  and  bring  about transparency in nutrition delivery systems at the Anganwadi centres. The 'Poshan Tracker'  application  was  rolled  out  on  1st  March,  2021  as  an  important  IT governance tool. It facilitates monitoring and tracking of infrastructure and service delivery at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), and beneficiaries on defined indicators.

Anganwadi workers are mandated to measure height and weight of all children (0-6 years) once a month. On the basis of height and weight data entered by Anganwadi  workers,  the  Poshan  Tracker  is  being  leveraged  for  dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children as per WHO standards.

Poshan Tracker is available in 24 languages including Hindi and English. It has facilitated  near  real  time  data  collection  for  Anganwadi  Services.  Monthly dashboards and factsheets are provided at various levels, from Central level to Project level for timely course corrections and focused interventions.

Nutrition  goes  beyond  mere  eating  of food; it requires proper  digestion, absorption,  and  metabolism  which  are  influenced  by  factors  like  sanitation, education and access to safe drinking water. As malnutrition requires a multisector  approach  involving  dimensions  of  food,  health,  water,  sanitation  and education,  it  is  crucial  to  effectively  address  the  issue  of  malnutrition.  The challenge of malnutrition is being addressed under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan  2.0 by establishing cross cutting  convergence  amongst  18 Ministries/Departments.

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 |

* 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 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  7.54  crores  children  up  to  5  years  are  enrolled  in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development as per the October 2024 data. 7.31 crores of these children were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 38.9% of these children have been found to be stunted, 17% children have been found to be underweight and 5.2% wasted.

Further, the projected population of all children in India up to 6 years for the year 2021 is approximately 16.1 crores (source: Population Projections for India and States  2011-2036,  National  Commission  on  Population,  Ministry  of  Health  & Family Welfare). As per the October 2024 data of Poshan Tracker, 8.82 crores children (0-6 years) are enrolled in Anganwadis out of whom 8.55 crores were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 37% of these children (0-6 years) have been found to be stunted and 17% 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.

State wise details of malnourished children in the country are at Annexure-I.

The details  of  malnourished  children  in  Amroha  Parliamentary  Constituency  in Uttar Pradesh and Jalgaon Parliamentary Constituency in Maharashtra are placed at Annexure II.

Details  of  total  registered  children  and  the  number  of  children  measures  is  at Annexure III.

*****

## Annexure - I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION  NO. 272  FOR  13.12.2024  REGARDING  'POSHAN  TRACKER PROGRAMME' ASKED BY SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI AND DR. VINOD KUMAR BIND

State wise details of malnourished children (0-5 years) in the country for October 2024 from Poshan Tracker are as follows:

| State                              |   Stunted% |   Wasted% |   Underweight% |
|------------------------------------|------------|-----------|----------------|
| Andhra Pradesh                     |       22.6 |       5.3 |           10.8 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                  |       32.8 |       4.2 |            9.6 |
| Assam                              |       42.4 |       3.8 |           16.4 |
| Bihar                              |       43.8 |       9.2 |           22.9 |
| Chhattisgarh                       |       21.5 |       7   |           13.1 |
| Goa                                |        4.1 |       0.6 |            1.7 |
| Gujarat                            |       40.8 |       7.8 |           21   |
| Haryana                            |       28.2 |       4.1 |            8.7 |
| Himachal Pradesh                   |       18.4 |       1.7 |            6.3 |
| Jharkhand                          |       43.8 |       6.2 |           19.3 |
| Karnataka                          |       39.7 |       3.2 |           17.1 |
| Kerala                             |       34.4 |       2.3 |            9.5 |
| Madhya Pradesh                     |       46.5 |       7   |           26.5 |
| Maharashtra                        |       47.7 |       4.1 |           16.5 |
| Manipur                            |        7.7 |       0.3 |            2.6 |
| Meghalaya                          |       18.2 |       0.4 |            4.5 |
| Mizoram                            |       26.7 |       2.3 |            5.9 |
| Nagaland                           |       28   |       5.3 |            6.6 |
| Odisha                             |       29.1 |       2.9 |           12.8 |
| Punjab                             |       18.4 |       3   |            5.9 |
| Rajasthan                          |       36.6 |       5.5 |           17.7 |
| Sikkim                             |        9.2 |       1.5 |            1.7 |
| Tamil Nadu                         |       13.4 |       3.6 |            7.1 |
| Telangana                          |       32.6 |       5.6 |           16.2 |
| Tripura                            |       40.5 |       6.3 |           16.6 |
| Uttar Pradesh                      |       48   |       3.9 |           19.4 |
| Uttarakhand                        |       21   |       1.5 |            5.4 |
| West Bengal                        |       38   |       7.5 |           13   |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |        8.7 |       2.3 |            3.9 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |       35.9 |       3.4 |           16.1 |
| Delhi                              |       41.9 |       3   |           20.6 |

| State         |   Stunted% |   Wasted% |   Underweight% |
|---------------|------------|-----------|----------------|
| J&K           |       12.1 |       0.7 |            3   |
| Ladakh        |       11   |       0.2 |            2   |
| Lakshadweep   |       46.5 |      11.9 |           25.1 |
| Puducherry    |       40.2 |       6.8 |           13   |
| UT-Chandigarh |       26.3 |       1.8 |           11.9 |

Annexure II

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION  NO. 272  FOR  13.12.2024  REGARDING  'POSHAN  TRACKER PROGRAMME' ASKED BY SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI AND DR. VINOD KUMAR BIND

- i) Nutritional Status of children in Jalgaon Parliamentary Constituency is as follows*:
2. ii) Nutritional Status of children in Amroha Parliamentary Constituency in Uttar Pradesh is as follows*:

| District   |   Stunted% |   Wasted% |   Underweight% |
|------------|------------|-----------|----------------|
| Jalgaon    |      48.89 |      3.21 |           17.2 |

| District   |   Stunted% |   Wasted% |   Underweight% |
|------------|------------|-----------|----------------|
| Amroha     |      52.66 |      5.17 |          23.56 |
| Hapur      |      50.58 |      0.8  |          17.59 |

* Data of the month of October 2024 from Poshan Tracker

Annexure III

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION  NO. 272  FOR  13.12.2024  REGARDING  'POSHAN  TRACKER PROGRAMME' ASKED BY SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI AND DR. VINOD KUMAR BIND Details of total registered children (of age 0-6 years) and the number of children (of age 0-6 years) measured are as follows:

| Total registered children   | 8,82,87,007   |
|-----------------------------|---------------|
| Total children measured     | 8,55,38,380   |

* Data of the month of October 2024 from Poshan Tracker

*****