Lok Sabha Question No. 1580 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-28
Subject: Modernization of Anganwadi Centres
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Haji Fazlur Rehman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1580

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2023

## MODERNIZATION OF ANGANWADI CENTRES

## 1580.  SHRI HAJI FAZLUR REHMAN:

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

- (a) the details of the facilities provided by the Government in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) across the country;
- (b) whether the Union Government has received any proposals from various State Governments for increasing the number of AWCs and their modernization; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) Under Anganwadi  Services, a package of six services, namely, (i) Supplementary Nutrition; (ii) Pre-school Non-formal Education; (iii) Nutrition & Health Education; (iv) Immunization; (v) Health Check-up; and (vi) Referral Services has been provided to all eligible beneficiaries, namely, children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers through the platform of Anganwadi Centres across the country. Three of the services viz. Immunization, Health Check-up and Referral  Services  are  related  to  health  and  are  provided  through  National  Health Mission (NHM) & Public Health Infrastructure.

The Services are provided to all eligible beneficiaries, who register themselves at the Anganwadi  Centres,  without  any  limitation  and  necessary  awareness  has  been created among public to avail the nutritional and health services provided.

(b)&(c) All  Anganwadi Centres have been sanctioned to States/UTs. Further, the Ministry has requested State Governments to re-visit the issue of availability of Anganwadi Centres at the habitation level and determine the actual requirement of AWCs vis-a-vis the population of the area, number of children actually attending the AWCs and the number of AWCs available.

Further, modernization /upgradation of Anganwadi Centres is a continuous effort by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Some of the measures taken by the Ministry for modernization of AWCs are as follows:

- i. Under  Saksham  Anganwadi,   2  lakh  Anganwadi  Centres   (AWCs)  (40,000 AWCs per year) across the country are being upgraded for improved nutrition delivery and early childhood care and education for  development of children under 6 years of age. During FY 2022-23, 41,192 AWCs have been identified

in  aspirational  districts  for  upgradation  as  Saksham Anganwadis  with  better infrastructure including LED screens, water purifier/installation of  RO machines, smart learning and audio-visual aids, child-friendly learning equipment and internet/wifi connectivity through Bharatnet wherever feasible.

- ii. For construction of AWC buildings across the country under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in convergence with Anganwadi Services (now known Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 Scheme), construction cost has been revised from Rs.7 lakh to Rs.12 lakh per unit under the revised Scheme - Poshan 2.0.
- iii. Under  Swachhta  Action  Plan,  Rs.10,000/-  per  AWC  has  been  provided  for drinking water facilities in  and Rs.12,000/-per AWC for toilet facilities, which has  now  been  revised  to  Rs.17,000/-  per  AWC  and  Rs.36,000/-  per  AWC respectively.
- iv. Grants are sanctioned for purchase of water filter, furniture, equipment, etc.
- v. Anganwadi  Workers  (AWWs)  have  been  technologically  empowered  with Smart  Phones  for  efficient  service  delivery.  (approx  11  lakh).  The  mobile application has digitized and automated the physical registers used by AWWs which has also helped in improving their quality of work.
- vi. Streamlined guidelines were issued on 13.01.2021, covering several aspects such as quality assurance, roles and responsibilities of duty holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts.
- vii. 'Poshan Tracker', a robust ICT enabled platform, has been launched in March 2021 to ensure real-time monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition by use of data analytics for  prompt  supervision  and  management  of services.   The  system  shall  enable  real  time  monitoring  and  tracking  of  all AWCs, AWWs and beneficiaries on defined indicators.

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