Lok Sabha Question No. 3818 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-11
Subject: Nutrition Delivery Support System
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Anurag Sharma, P.P. Chaudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3818

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2023

## NUTRITION DELIVERY SUPPORT SYSTEM

3818.  SHRI ANURAG SHARMA: SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

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

- (a) the  details  of  the  funds  being  allocated  by  the  Government  for  the  Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programme, State-wise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  leveraged  technology  to  strengthen  and  bring transparency in nutrition delivery support systems, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  formulated  nutritional  standards/norms  for  the beneficiaries under the scheme, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether any provisions have been made for social audits and evaluation under the said program, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) the  details  of  quality  testing  mechanism  adopted  by  the  Government  to  ensure quality food; and
- (f) the number of Anganwadi Centres in the State of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan specifically in the Jhansi and Pali Parliamentary Constituencies along with the total number of beneficiaries who availed services from these centres?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)        The  Budget  for  Mission  Poshan  2.0  is  based  on  estimates  arising  from  the implementation of the programmes  under  the Mission (Supplementary Nutrition, Anganwadi  Services,  Poshan  Abhiyaan  and  the  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls)  in  the States/UTs. In case of additional requirement by States/UTs, revised budget allocation is sought from the Ministry of Finance at the time of Supplementary Grants. During the FY 2022-23 and 2023-24, Rs. 20263.07 and Rs. 20554.31 respectively have been allocated for the Scheme. State /UT-wise allocation is done based on the requirements projected by the states and the unspent balances with them.
- (b)       Under Poshan 2.0, Government has leveraged technology in the form of an ICT application, viz., Poshan Tracker, which was rolled out on 1 st  March 2021 to monitor near real-time progress under Mission Poshan 2.0. Technology under the Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic  identification of stunting, wasting and  underweight prevalence  among  children  and  last  mile  tracking  of  nutrition  service  delivery.  The application  also  offers  counselling  videos  on  key  behaviours  and  services  which  help disseminate messages on birth preparedness, delivery,  post-natal  care,  breastfeeding and complementary feeding. The system enables near real-time monitoring of all AWCs,

AWWs and beneficiaries on the defined indicators. Beneficiary Redressal Mechanism is an integral part of Poshan 2.0. Poshan Tracker has a web based and an application based facility to raise concerns / grievances. Beneficiaries can utilise the facility and share their concerns directly with Anganwadi Worker. Also,a Poshan Helpline (14408) operationalised in November 2022 has been made available for registering concerns / queries. Through the help line a beneficiary can raise a concern about the services offered under Mission Poshan 2.0.

- (c)        Under the Anganwadi Services Scheme of Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0), supplementary nutrition is provided to pregnant women, lactating mothers and children upto the age of 6 years at Anganwadi Centres as per nutritional norms. Recently, these nutrition norms have been revised and notified on 25 th  January, 2023. The revised nutritional norms are more comprehensive in terms of quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity to provide quality protein, healthy fats and 7 essential micro nutrients (calcium, zinc, iron, dietary folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12.
- (d)       Streamlining Guidelines on inter alia, transparency, efficiency and accountability in delivery  of  Supplementary Nutrition issued on 13 th  January 2021 details the roles and responsibilities for monitoring the scheme at State, District village and community level. Further,  the  Guidelines  of  Mission  Poshan  2.0  highlights  mechanism  for  social  audits for improved transparency of service delivery. The Scheme guidelines recommend that social audit shall be undertaken by stakeholders at the community level, such as Poshan Panchayats, Mothers' Groups and Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees for regular monitoring. Also, it is recommended that the District Nutrition Committee, chaired by District Collector with representation from all line departments, should conduct spot checking on random basis.
- (e)        The  administration  and  implementation  of  the  scheme  including  distribution  of supplementary nutrition falls under the ambit of State Governments/UT administrations as the  scheme  is  a  centrally  sponsored  scheme.  However,  the  scheme  guidelines recommend that States/UTs shall ensure the quality of Supplementary Nutrition provided with reference to the norms of food safety as well as nutrient composition and carry out periodic  checks  and  get  Supplementary  Nutrition  tested  through  the  FSSAI  owned/ registered/ empanelled/ accredited laboratories for adhering to food quality standards and testing  in  accordance  with  Streamlined  Guidelines  issued  by  Central  Government. Further, it has also been recommended that random testing be conducted by Anganwadi Services functionaries after receipt of stock at the AWC or at the Block level. Anganwadi Services  functionaries  i.e.  CDPO  or  Supervisor  shall  draw  the  samples,  as  per  the prescribed procedure and send the sample for testing to a FSSAI owned/registered/empanelled/NABL accredited laboratory. The District Nutrition Committee  under  the  DM  shall  ensure  periodic  testing  of  THR  in  randomly  selected Anganwadi Centers.
- (f)        The number of Anganwadi Centres in the State of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan specifically  in  the  Jhansi  and  Pali  Parliamentary  Constituencies  along  with  the  total number of beneficiaries enrolled in Poshan Tracker, as on July 2023, are as under:

| State/District   |   Number of Anganwadi Centers |   Number of Beneficiaries |
|------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------|
| Uttar Pradesh    |                        189045 |                  21718597 |
| Jhansi           |                          1379 |                    144367 |
| Rajasthan        |                         61874 |                   4636094 |
| Pali             |                          1834 |                    145496 |

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