Lok Sabha Question No. 4664 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: Current Status of Malnutrition
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Hanuman Beniwal, Adv. Chandra Shekhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION. 4664 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026

## CURRENT STATUS OF MALNUTRITION

## 4664.  SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL:

## ADV. CHANDRA SHEKHAR:

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

- (a) the current rate of malnutrition among children in the country as per the latest surveys, State-wise;
- (b) whether the actual expenditure has been lower than the sanctioned budget under Poshan Abhiyaan and other related schemes, if so, the details of the sanctioned budget and the actual expenditure incurred during the last three years, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to develop any concrete mechanism to monitor the implementation of the said schemes and the expenditure incurred thereon to prevent misuse of budget for tackling malnutrition in the country, particularly in tribal areas; and
- (d) if so, the details along with the timeline thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) has launched 'Poshan Tracker' digital application, an ICT based tool, for monitoring and tracking of all activities related to Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0). Technology under Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children from 0-6 years of age group. The State wise information on malnutrition among children in the country is available on the Poshan Tracker public dashboard at the given link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

Further, various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted by Ministry of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  since  1992-93,  also  collect  data  on  malnutrition  indicators  in children across the country. State wise details of these indicators as per NFHS-5 are given at the Annexure I.

Mission  Poshan  2.0  is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  where  the  Central  Government  is responsible for the overall planning and policy making and its day-to-day implementation falls under the ambit of State Government and UT administration. The details of financial allocation and expenditure under the scheme for last three years is mentioned below:

|   S. No. | Year    | Budget Estimates (₹ crores)   | Revised Estimates (₹ crores)   | Expenditure / Funds Released (₹ crores)   |
|----------|---------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 2022-23 | 20,263.07                     | 20,263.07                      | 19,876.11                                 |
|        2 | 2023-24 | 20,554.31                     | 21,523.13                      | 21,809.64                                 |
|        3 | 2024-25 | 21,200.00                     | 21,035.12                      | 21,014.01                                 |

The Ministry has created a dedicated portal for submission of Utilization Certificates (UCs) and  Statement  of  Expenditure  (SOE),  to  ensure  effective  monitoring  of  fund  utilization. Further, to improve transparency and accountability, Mission Poshan 2.0 has been onboarded on SNA SPARSH which works on the ´just in time´ method. The details of funds released for the States and UTs under Mission Poshan 2.0 during last three years is placed at Annexure II.

For last mile tracking of Service Delivery, the MoWCD has developed Facial Recognition System (FRS) in Poshan Tracker Application for distribution of Take-Home Ration and to ensure  that  benefit  is  given  only  to  the  intended  beneficiary  registered  in  the  application. Further, Nominee Module has been introduced in application to ensure uninterrupted delivery of Take-Home Ration (THR) to the beneficiaries; Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, and Adolescent  Girls.  If  due  to  any  reason,  the  registered  beneficiary  is  unable  to  visit  the Anganwadi Centre to receive their THR through FRS, she can nominate a person on her behalf to  receive  her  THR.  Further,  Aadhaar  based  tracking  has  enabled  proper  identification  of beneficiaries, prevention of leakages and eliminating ghost entries. As per the data available on the Poshan Tracker dashboard, 99.88% registered beneficiaries are Aadhaar verified.

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Annexure I

## STATE AND UT WISE PREVALENCE OF STUNTING, WASTING AND UNDERWEIGHT AMONG  CHILDREN  UNDER  FIVE  YEARS  OF  AGE  AS  PER  NATIONAL  FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY-5 (2019-2021)

| S. No.   | State and UT             |   Stunting (%) |   Wasting (%) |   Underweight (%) |
|----------|--------------------------|----------------|---------------|-------------------|
| INDIA    | INDIA                    |           35.5 |          19.3 |              32.1 |
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar Islands |           22.5 |          16   |              23.7 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh           |           31.2 |          16.1 |              29.6 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh        |           28   |          13.1 |              15.4 |
| 4        | Assam                    |           35.3 |          21.7 |              32.8 |
| 5        | Bihar                    |           42.9 |          22.9 |              41   |
| 6        | Chandigarh               |           25.3 |           8.4 |              20.6 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh             |           34.6 |          18.9 |              31.3 |
| 8        | DNH& DD                  |           39.4 |          21.6 |              38.7 |
| 9        | Delhi                    |           30.9 |          11.2 |              21.8 |
| 10       | Goa                      |           25.8 |          19.1 |              24   |
| 11       | Gujarat                  |           39   |          25.1 |              39.7 |
| 12       | Haryana                  |           27.5 |          11.5 |              21.5 |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh         |           30.8 |          17.4 |              25.5 |
| 14       | Jammu &Kashmir           |           26.9 |          19   |              21   |
| 15       | Jharkhand                |           39.6 |          22.4 |              39.4 |
| 16       | Karnataka                |           35.4 |          19.5 |              32.9 |
| 17       | Kerala                   |           23.4 |          15.8 |              19.7 |
| 18       | Lakshadweep              |           32   |          17.4 |              25.8 |
| 19       | Ladakh                   |           30.5 |          17.5 |              20.4 |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh           |           35.7 |          19   |              33   |
| 21       | Maharashtra              |           35.2 |          25.6 |              36.1 |
| 22       | Manipur                  |           23.4 |           9.9 |              13.3 |
| 23       | Meghalaya                |           46.5 |          12.1 |              26.6 |
| 24       | Mizoram                  |           28.9 |           9.8 |              12.7 |
| 25       | Nagaland                 |           32.7 |          19.1 |              26.9 |
| 26       | Orissa                   |           31   |          18.1 |              29.7 |
| 27       | Puducherry               |           20   |          12.4 |              15.3 |
| 28       | Punjab                   |           24.5 |          10.6 |              16.9 |
| 29       | Rajasthan                |           31.8 |          16.8 |              27.6 |
| 30       | Sikkim                   |           22.3 |          13.7 |              13.1 |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu               |           25   |          14.6 |              22   |
| 32       | Telangana                |           33.1 |          21.7 |              31.8 |
| 33       | Tripura                  |           32.3 |          18.2 |              25.6 |
| 34       | Uttar Pradesh            |           39.7 |          17.3 |              32.1 |
| 35       | Uttarakhand              |           27   |          13.2 |              21   |
| 36       | West Bengal              |           33.8 |          20.3 |              32.2 |

## STATE AND UT WISE FUND RELEASE DETAILS FOR LAST 3 YEARS

(Rs. in crores)

|   S. No. | State and UT              |   Funds released (2022-23) |   Funds released (2023-24) |   Funds released (2024-25) |   Funds released (2025-26) |
|----------|---------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |                       3.85 |                      12.15 |                       9.63 |                       8.1  |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh            |                     827.79 |                     705.68 |                     645.73 |                     522.97 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh         |                     137.78 |                     162.06 |                     102.61 |                     109.67 |
|        4 | Assam                     |                    1651.63 |                    2233.31 |                    2482.34 |                    1025.07 |
|        5 | Bihar                     |                    1740.09 |                    1859.29 |                    2262.92 |                     878.72 |
|        6 | Chandigarh                |                      33.1  |                      19.79 |                      14.56 |                       9.87 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh              |                     668.96 |                     579.46 |                     733.3  |                     392.39 |
|        8 | DNH&DD                    |                       5.8  |                      11.97 |                       9.13 |                     144.61 |
|        9 | Delhi                     |                     182.77 |                     161.81 |                     160.41 |                       5.92 |
|       10 | Goa                       |                      14.71 |                      13.95 |                      13.44 |                      12.62 |
|       11 | Gujarat                   |                     912.64 |                    1126.8  |                     601.32 |                     337.53 |
|       12 | Haryana                   |                     195.25 |                     225.78 |                     232.69 |                      43.38 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh          |                     270.24 |                     301.09 |                     313.07 |                     257.02 |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir            |                     479.01 |                     530.88 |                     662.79 |                     282.87 |
|       15 | Jharkhand                 |                     430.91 |                     664.3  |                     496.95 |                     386.01 |
|       16 | Karnataka                 |                     765.87 |                     912.96 |                     886.85 |                     620.4  |
|       17 | Kerala                    |                     444.98 |                     306.64 |                     435.74 |                     176.06 |
|       18 | Ladakh                    |                      18.79 |                      19.62 |                      18.89 |                      16.41 |
|       19 | Lakshadweep               |                       0.44 |                       2.88 |                       1.35 |                       0.82 |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh            |                    1011.57 |                    1123.11 |                    1144.54 |                     791.73 |
|       21 | Maharashtra               |                    1646.17 |                    1699.52 |                    1368.84 |                    1060.79 |
|       22 | Manipur                   |                     135.95 |                     201.28 |                     342.87 |                     133.15 |
|       23 | Meghalaya                 |                     192.39 |                     269.69 |                     137.93 |                      81.4  |
|       24 | Mizoram                   |                      42.81 |                     100.27 |                      55.29 |                      47.93 |
|       25 | Nagaland                  |                     199.3  |                     262.91 |                     147.01 |                      88.88 |
|       26 | Odisha                    |                     923.92 |                     968.8  |                     948.16 |                     789.82 |
|       27 | Puducherry                |                       0.12 |                       4.48 |                       3.68 |                       3.9  |
|       28 | Punjab                    |                      75.31 |                     307.87 |                     265.48 |                     133.15 |
|       29 | Rajasthan                 |                     974.02 |                    1091.96 |                     741.85 |                     722.33 |
|       30 | Sikkim                    |                      20.33 |                      33.49 |                      18.07 |                       9    |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu                |                     766.81 |                     880.79 |                     638.47 |                     508.87 |
|       32 | Telangana                 |                     550.69 |                     507.87 |                     430.76 |                     117.7  |
|       33 | Tripura                   |                     150.52 |                     244.22 |                     153.41 |                     133.75 |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh             |                    2721.87 |                    2668.69 |                    2694.62 |                    1944.79 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand               |                     425.84 |                     288.24 |                     216.33 |                     223.3  |
|       36 | West Bengal               |                    1227.59 |                    1237.56 |                    1513.8  |                    1029.28 |

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