Lok Sabha Question No. 5594 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-27
Subject: Current Status of ICDS
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Sanatan Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 5594

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026

## CURRENT STATUS OF ICDS

## 5594.  SHRI SANATAN PANDEY:

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

- (a) the current status of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme;
- (b) the details of the measures implemented to tackle malnutrition among children;
- (c) the details of the measures implemented to increase immunity among children;
- (d) the details of the funds allocated, disbursed and utilized under ICDS in Uttar Pradesh, district-wise; and
- (e) the details of the measures being taken to communicate the concerned information to the public in a more effective manner

## ANSWER

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

(a) to  (e):  Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity. The objectives of Poshan 2.0 are as follows:

- To contribute to human capital development of the country;
- Address challenges of malnutrition;
- Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing; and
- Address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies.

Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, a package of six services are provided to  the  eligible  beneficiaries  i.e  Supplementary  Nutrition  (SNP),   Pre-school  Non-formal

Education, Nutrition  &  Health  Education,   Immunization,  Health  Check-up,  and  Referral Services. Three of the six services, viz., Immunization, Health check-up and Referral Services are related to health and are provided through National Health Mission (NHM) & Public Health Infrastructure.

These services are provided to the eligible registered beneficiaries i.e children up to the age of 6 years, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers across the country and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years in Aspirational Districts of States and all districts of North Eastern Region by through the platform of Anganwadi Centre.

The State wise number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) functioning under Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 and number of beneficiaries registered therein are available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

Poshan Tracker application was rolled out as an important governance tool which facilitates monitoring  and  tracking  of  all  AWCs,  AWWs  and  beneficiaries  on  defined  indicators. Technology under Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting  and  underweight  prevalence  among  children.  It  has  facilitated  near  real  time  data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, opening of AWCs, daily attendance of children, ECCE activities, Growth Monitoring of children, Provision of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR-not raw ration), Growth Measurement etc. The application also offers counselling videos on key behaviours and services which help disseminate messages on birth preparedness,  delivery  of  child,  post-natal  care,  breastfeeding  and  complementary  feeding. Regular field level trainings/workshops are conducted directly for AWWs regarding use of the Poshan Tracker Application. Poshan Tracker also features self-learning videos for AWWs, enabling continuous capacity building and on-the-job learning through digital modules.

For  last  mile  tracking  of  Service  Delivery,  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development (MWCD) has developed Facial Recognition System (FRS) in Poshan Tracker Application for distribution  of  TakeHome  Ration  to  ensure  that  benefit  is  given  only  to  the  intended beneficiary registered in Poshan Tracker.

The Nominee Module has been introduced in Poshan Tracker to ensure uninterrupted delivery of Take-Home Ration (THR) to Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, and Adolescent Girls under  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Mission  Poshan  2.0.  If  due  to  any  reason,  the  registered beneficiary (Pregnant Women, Lactating Mother and Adolescent girl) is unable to visit the Anganwadi Centre to receive their THR through FRS, she can nominate a nominee on her behalf to receive her THR. Nominee has to undergo e-KYC only ONCE. But face matching will be done every time for receiving THR on behalf of the beneficiary. Even after addition of the nominee, beneficiary can still receive the THR at the Anganwadi Center if the nominee has not received it already.

Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  during  FY  2025-26,  an  amount  of Rs.1,79,387.84 Lakh has been released to the State of Uttar Pradesh for implementation of various components of the scheme. Further, a mother sanction of Rs. 90,505.32 Lakh has been issued to the State of Uttar Pradesh during FY 2025-26 under SNA SPARSH.

Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. The Central Government  is  responsible  for  policy  and  planning  and  the  State  Governments  and  UT Administrations  are  responsible  for  day-to-day  program  implementation.  Additionally,  the Ministry  also  monitors  the  implementation  of  scheme  through  sustained  engagements  and video conferences with the States and UTs so as to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the beneficiaries.

Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan is undertaken to educate people on nutritional aspects. IEC material in the form of videos, pamphlets, flyers etc., in regional languages are developed around critical themes. Social & Behavioural Changes have been inculcated through conducting Community Based Events twice in a month at each Anganwadi  Centre,  Poshan  Maah  and  Poshan  Pakhwada  in  convergence  with  various Ministries/ Departments and other stakeholders.

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