Lok Sabha Question No. 2146 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-01
Subject: Nutrition and Health Outcomes
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2146

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2025

## NUTRITION AND HEALTH OUTCOMES

## 2146.  DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE:

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

- (a) the  number  of  children  aged  0-6  years  currently  enrolled  in  Integrated  Child Development  Services (ICDS) along with the number  of children receiving supplementary nutrition daily, State-wise and gender-wise;
- (b) the number of pregnant and lactating women receiving full Take-Home Ration (THR) entitlements at least 80% of the time; and
- (c) the percentage of underweight and wasted children (as per WHO growth standards) tracked  through  Poshan  Tracker  or  Integrated  Child  Development  ServicesCommon Application Software (ICDS-CAS) during the last five years?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c):  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.

The details of number of children aged 0-6 currently registered under Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0 State-wise and gender-wise, for June 2025, as per Poshan Tracker data are placed at Annexure-I.

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. The details of the number of  children,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers,  for  whom  Supplementary nutrition is being provided for first quarter of FY 25-26 to the States and UTs are placed at Annexure-II. The  number  of  beneficiaries  is  based  on  the  number  of  Aadhaar-verified beneficiaries minus opt-out beneficiaries reported on the Poshan Tracker on the last day of the first month of the preceding quarter.

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 7.36 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% 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.  The  State/UT  wise  data  on  wasting  and underweight of June, 2025 as per Poshan Tracker data is placed at Annexure III.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2146 FOR 01.08.2025 REGARDING 'NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH OUTCOMES' ASKED BY DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE

The details of the number of children aged 0-6 years currently registered under Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0, State-wise and gender-wise, for June 2025, as per Poshan Tracker data are as below:

| State/UTs                          |    Male |   Female |
|------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |    5177 |     5214 |
| Andhra Pradesh                     | 1248364 |  1184544 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                  |   43114 |    42953 |
| Assam                              | 1330018 |  1300011 |
| Bihar                              | 4887451 |  4488619 |
| Chhattisgarh                       | 1088543 |  1080736 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |   16096 |    15340 |
| Delhi                              |  264432 |   259593 |
| Goa                                |   21603 |    21409 |
| Gujarat                            | 1489002 |  1410711 |
| Haryana                            |  898982 |   845256 |
| Himachal Pradesh                   |  238740 |   225076 |
| J&K                                |  393562 |   389381 |
| Jharkhand                          | 1425494 |  1326232 |
| Karnataka                          | 1783251 |  1737055 |
| Kerala                             |  908417 |   884969 |
| Ladakh                             |    8382 |     8252 |
| Lakshadweep                        |    1832 |     1698 |
| Madhya Pradesh                     | 3299905 |  3173155 |
| Maharashtra                        | 2997129 |  2782614 |
| Manipur                            |  135070 |   130408 |
| Meghalaya                          |  198878 |   196327 |
| Mizoram                            |   50522 |    49360 |
| Nagaland                           |   52063 |    50422 |
| Odisha                             | 1668062 |  1582746 |
| Puducherry                         |   14331 |    14368 |
| Punjab                             |  746492 |   694334 |
| Rajasthan                          | 1830291 |  1757517 |
| Sikkim                             |   14854 |    14380 |
| Tamil Nadu                         | 1905176 |  1802364 |
| Telangana                          |  952444 |   884528 |

| Tripura       |   143640 |   140833 |
|---------------|----------|----------|
| UT-Chandigarh |    16262 |    15894 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 10177900 |  9197301 |
| Uttarakhand   |   311082 |   298449 |
| West Bengal   |  3876127 |  3693851 |

## Annexure-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b)  OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2146  FOR  01.08.2025  REGARDING  'NUTRITIONAL  AND  HEALTH  OUTCOMES' ASKED BY DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE

The details of the number of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers, for whom Supplementary nutrition is being provided for first quarter of FY 25-26 to the States and UTs are as below:

|   S.No | State/UT                           |   Children (6M to 6 years) along with SAM and SUW |   Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers |
|--------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|      1 | Andhra Pradesh                     |                                           2265268 |                                 457921 |
|      2 | Bihar                              |                                           9748727 |                                1303166 |
|      3 | Chhattisgarh                       |                                           2058585 |                                 340451 |
|      4 | Goa                                |                                             47981 |                                   8685 |
|      5 | Gujarat                            |                                           2914466 |                                 457810 |
|      6 | Haryana                            |                                           1045481 |                                 256160 |
|      7 | Jharkhand                          |                                           2673987 |                                 352302 |
|      8 | Karnataka                          |                                           3433879 |                                 669253 |
|      9 | Kerala                             |                                           1401671 |                                 226788 |
|     10 | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                           6110914 |                                 954001 |
|     11 | Maharashtra                        |                                           5449195 |                                 754318 |
|     12 | Odisha                             |                                           3100626 |                                 554701 |
|     13 | Punjab                             |                                           1069507 |                                 204284 |
|     14 | Rajasthan                          |                                           3382644 |                                 673563 |
|     15 | Tamil Nadu                         |                                           2367566 |                                 610932 |
|     16 | Telangana                          |                                           1623580 |                                 293402 |
|     17 | Uttar Pradesh                      |                                          19179628 |                                2850060 |
|     18 | West Bengal                        |                                           7129078 |                                1138312 |
|     19 | Delhi                              |                                            525234 |                                 141263 |
|     20 | Puducherry                         |                                             32554 |                                   7691 |
|     21 | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                            284334 |                                  75635 |
|     22 | J&K                                |                                            748029 |                                 112432 |
|     23 | Uttarakhand                        |                                            625923 |                                 131129 |
|     24 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |                                             10190 |                                   1783 |
|     25 | UT-Chandigarh                      |                                             22016 |                                   7311 |
|     26 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |                                             23587 |                                   5959 |
|     27 | Ladakh                             |                                             16577 |                                   2422 |
|     28 | Lakshadweep                        |                                              3936 |                                    795 |

|   29 | Arunachal Pradesh   |   70284 |   4818 |
|------|---------------------|---------|--------|
|   30 | Assam               | 2598489 | 309595 |
|   31 | Manipur             |  259280 |  20767 |
|   32 | Meghalaya           |  359214 |  39865 |
|   33 | Mizoram             |   99058 |  12192 |
|   34 | Nagaland            |   75205 |   3591 |
|   35 | Sikkim              |   23751 |   3489 |
|   36 | Tripura             |  276613 |  33620 |

Annexure-III

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2146 FOR 01.08.2025 REGARDING 'NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH OUTCOMES' ASKED BY DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE

State-wise detail of malnutrition indicators of children (0-5 years) in the country for June, 2025 from Poshan Tracker data are as follows:

|   S. No. | State                     |   Wasting% |   Underweight% |
|----------|---------------------------|------------|----------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh            |       4.97 |           7.68 |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh         |       5.18 |          11.65 |
|        3 | Assam                     |       4.5  |          16.88 |
|        4 | Bihar                     |       9.31 |          20.98 |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh              |       7.77 |          14.23 |
|        6 | Goa                       |       0.78 |           1.96 |
|        7 | Gujarat                   |       7.28 |          18.41 |
|        8 | Haryana                   |       3.83 |           7.85 |
|        9 | Himachal Pradesh          |       2.41 |           6.88 |
|       10 | Jharkhand                 |       6.68 |          19.13 |
|       11 | Karnataka                 |       3.18 |          16.5  |
|       12 | Kerala                    |       3.2  |          10.18 |
|       13 | Madhya Pradesh            |       8.19 |          24.82 |
|       14 | Maharashtra               |       4.01 |          14.8  |
|       15 | Manipur                   |       0.67 |           2.69 |
|       16 | Meghalaya                 |       1.11 |           5.14 |
|       17 | Mizoram                   |       2.98 |           6.33 |
|       18 | Nagaland                  |       6.08 |           7    |
|       19 | Odisha                    |       3.21 |          11.63 |
|       20 | Punjab                    |       2.95 |           5.12 |
|       21 | Rajasthan                 |       6.49 |          17.57 |
|       22 | Sikkim                    |       1.95 |           1.69 |
|       23 | Tamil Nadu                |       3.54 |           6.29 |
|       24 | Telangana                 |       5.93 |          17    |
|       25 | Tripura                   |       7.68 |          18.01 |
|       26 | Uttar Pradesh             |       5.04 |          19.96 |
|       27 | Uttarakhand               |       2.47 |           6.31 |
|       28 | West Bengal               |       4.75 |           9    |
|       29 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |       1.66 |           2.93 |

|   30 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu   |   3.56 |   17.45 |
|------|--------------------------------------|--------|---------|
|   31 | Delhi                                |   3.81 |   15.35 |
|   32 | J&K                                  |   1.55 |    4.05 |
|   33 | Ladakh                               |   0.25 |    1.98 |
|   34 | Lakshadweep                          |  11.62 |   22.54 |
|   35 | Puducherry                           |   6.4  |   12.2  |
|   36 | UT-Chandigarh                        |   5.34 |   14.69 |

*****