Lok Sabha Question No. 5737 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-27
Subject: Basic Facilities at AWCs  in Maharashtra
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Sanjay Dina Patil, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 5737

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026

## BASIC FACILITIES AT AWCS IN MAHARASHTRA

## 5737.  SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL: PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD

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

- (a) the  number  of  Anganwadi  Centres  in  the  State  of  Maharashtra  currently  operating without functional toilets, safe drinking water or adequate infrastructure and the steps taken to address these gaps;
- (b) the  status  of  data  captured  under  the  Poshan  Tracker  in  tribal  and  nutritionally vulnerable districts of Maharashtra and the latest available figures on stunting, wasting and underweight children;
- (c) whether the Government has assessed the adequacy of Anganwadi infrastructure and service delivery in densely populated urban areas of Mumbai, particularly in informal settlements, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  number  of  children  in  need  of  care  and  protection  identified  in  Mumbai  under Mission Vatsalya and utilisation of funds for their rehabilitation district-wise; and
- (e) the measures taken to strengthen nutrition services, Anganwadi infrastructure and child protection mechanisms in metropolitan areas such as Mumbai?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (e):  Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  various  steps  have  been undertaken to improve the infrastructure facilities at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). During 15th Finance Commission cycle, 50,000 Anganwadi Centres are being constructed @10000 AWCs per  year  in  convergence  with  MGNREGS  wherein  Rs.8.00  Lakh  is  provided  under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 Lakh under 15th Finance Commission (FC) (or any other untied funds) and Rs.2.00 Lakh by MWCD per AWC shared between Centre and States and UTs in the prescribed cost sharing ratio.

Further, States and UTs have also been advised to continue to tap funds for construction of AWC buildings from various schemes such as Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Finance Commission

Grants to Panchayati Raj Institutions, Multi- Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) of Ministry of Minority Affairs, etc.

Various other initiatives have been undertaken for construction of AWCs under PM JANMAN and  Dharti  Abha  Janjatiye  Gram  Utkarsh  Abhiyan  for  the  targeted  development  of  Tribal population  and  VVP  (Vibrant  Village  Programme)  -  Phase  I,  focusing  on  Northern  border areas.

Also,  in  order  to  improve  the  infrastructure  facilities  at  AWCs  various  steps  have  been undertaken by the Ministry that, inter alia, include increasing the funding for drinking water facilities and toilets at Anganwadi Centres from Rs.10,000/- to Rs.17,000/- and Rs.12,000/- to Rs.36,000/- respectively.

In  convergence with Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education Guidelines  for  Co-locating  AWCs  within  Government  Primary  Schools  have  been  jointly launched  on  3rd  September,  2025  to  strengthen  ECCE  and  Foundational  Literacy  and Numeracy (FLN) services. In places where physical co-location is not possible, AWCs are to be mapped with the nearest primary school.

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, two lakh AWCs located in Government buildings @ 40,000 AWCs per year are being strengthened as Saksham Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition and for Early Childhood Care and Education in the 15th Finance Commission cycle. Saksham Anganwadis are provided with better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi centres with LED screens, water filtration system, Poshan Vatika, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) material and Building as Learning Aid (BALA) paintings.

Further, AWCs have been technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones and growth monitoring devices for efficient monitoring and delivery of services.

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.

Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  scheme.  The implementation  of  the  scheme  falls  under  the  ambit  of  State  Governments  and  UTs administrations.

The  district  wise  number  of  Anganwadi  Centres  (AWCs)  functioning  in  the  State  of Maharashtra  under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0  indicating  the  number  of availability  of  functional  toilets,  drinking  water,  infrastructure  and  growth  monitoring indicators are available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

The Ministry of women and Child Development is the nodal Ministry for the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) which is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children and is implemented by the States and UTs. The Act creates statutory structures at the State and District levels which include State  Child  Protection  Society,  Child  Welfare  Committees,  Juvenile  Justice  Boards  (JJBs), District Child Protection Units. It also provides for establishment of Child Care Institutions (CCIs).

Under the JJ Act, 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection, keeping their best interest in mind. They are also mandated to monitor the function of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs).

This  Ministry  is  implementing  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  namely  'Mission  Vatsalya', through the State and UT Governments to deliver various services for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) as well as Children in Conflict with Law (CCL). These services include Institutional Care and Non-Institutional Care.  The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the Mission Vatsalya scheme support, inter-alia, age-appropriate education, access to vocational  training,  recreation,  health  care,  counselling  etc.  Under  non-institutional  care, support is provided to the children through Sponsorship, Foster Care, Adoption and After Care.

During Financial Year 2024-25, Rs. 144.97 Cr. were released to State Govt. of Maharashtra for implementation of Mission Vatsalya. Further, 3667 children were benefitted through CCIs and 32520 children were supported under non-institutional care of Mission Vatsalya.

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