Lok Sabha Question No. 1215 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-06
Subject: Stunting and Wasting Among Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Tatkare Sunil Dattatrey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1215

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2025

## STUNTING AND WASTING AMONG CHILDREN

## 1215.   SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the steps being taken by the Government to reduce/eliminate stunting and wasting among children in India, especially children in rural and tribal areas;
- (b) the details of the steps being taken to ensure better nutrition in meals provided under POSHAN 2.0 such as more protein intake, addressing iron deficiency etc.;
- (c) whether any initiatives are being taken to enable localized planning/ procurement of food items for meals, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the manner in which POSHAN tracker is improving implementation of the POSHAN 2.0 scheme;
- (e) the manner in which nutrition/food delivery is monitored by the Ministry; and
- (f) the number of take-home rations provided on a daily basis to improve nutritional status of children and adolescent girls, particularly in the State of Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (c): To address the challenge of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls (14-18 years, in Aspirational  Districts  and  North-Eastern region) have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission  Poshan  2.0).  It  is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Mission,  where  the  responsibility  for implementation  of  various  activities  lies  with  the  States  and  UTs.  The  Mission  is  being implemented across the country. The objectives of Mission are as follows:

- To contribute to development of human capital in the country;
- Address challenge of malnutrition;
- Promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits for sustainable health and wellbeing

Under Mission Poshan 2.0 a new strategy has been made for reduction in malnutrition and for improved  health,  wellness  and  immunity  through  activities  like  community  engagement, outreach,  behavioural  change  and  advocacy.  It  focuses  on  Maternal  Nutrition,  Infant  and Young Child Feeding Norms, treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and wellness through AYUSH practices to reduce prevalence of wasting, stunting, anaemia and being underweight.

Under this Mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act, 2013. These norms have been  revised  in  January  2023.  The  old  norms  were  largely  calorie-specific;  however,  the revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based  on  the  principles  of  diet  diversity  that  provides  for  quality protein,  healthy  fats  and  micronutrients  (Calcium,  Zinc,  Iron,  Dietary  Folate,  Vitamin  A, Vitamin-B6  and  Vitamin  B-12 ). Extra  Supplementary  Nutrition  is  provided  to  Severely Acutely Malnourished (SAM) children as per National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).

Further, Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anaemia among women and children. Greater emphasis is being laid on the use of millets at least once a week for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take-Home ration at Anganwadi Centers.

Further, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare have jointly released the Protocol for Management of malnutrition in Children (CMAM) to prevent and treat severely acute malnutrition in children and for reducing associated morbidity and  mortality.  The  community-based  approach  involves  timely  detection  and  screening  of children  with  severe  acute  malnutrition  in  the  community,  management  for  those  without medical complications with wholesome, local nutritious foods at home and supportive medical care. The CMAM protocol includes an appetite test and screening process for children aged 6 months  to  6  years  who  are  severely  acute  malnourished  (SAM)  or  severely  underweight (SUW). Post-screening, such children are referred to Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRC) or hospital facilities for further care.

A key component is to enable the right kind of nourishment through Poshan Vatikas or Nutrigardens that are being set up across the country to provide easy and affordable access to fruits, vegetables,  medicinal  plants  and  herbs.  To  encourage  diet-diversity  and  consumption  of wholesome local produce, Poshan Vatikas have been developed at AWCs.

Poshan  Vatikas  help  to  meet  the  important  dietary  diversity  gap  that  has  been  repeatedly revealed in different surveys by providing different fruits, nuts, herbs, medicinal plants and vegetables round the year. The States and Union Territory Administrations are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure locally grown food items like millets, vegetables, condiments etc. The selection of ingredients, recipes and menu for supplementary nutrition rests with States/UTs in accordance with local palate and includes locally available cereals/millets, pulses, vegetables, nuts and fats.

Under this Mission, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of good nutrition habit  requires  sustained  efforts  for  behavioural  change.  State  and  UTs  are  conducting  and reporting regular sensitisation activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month.

Suposhit Gram Panchayat Abhiyaan was launched in December 2024. This initiative aims to improve  nutritional outcomes  and  well-being  through strengthened nutrition services, community participation, and multi-stakeholder convergence. The Suposhit Gram panchayat (GP) incentive has a grant of Rs 1 lakh per GP to the top 1000 qualified GPs to utilize incentive money to motivate the Anganwadi workers & helpers to help improve service delivery, as an incentive to the Gram Panchayat to improve community mobilization & increase enrolment and  help  nutrition  related  initiatives  such  as  development  of  Poshan  Vatikas,  SNP  value addition, etc.

(d) and (e): The 'Poshan Tracker' application was rolled out as an important governance tool.  The  Poshan  Tracker  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, 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 selflearning  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 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 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 the Mission, AWWs have been provided with smartphones procured by States/UTs on a cost sharing basis for data entry and use of Poshan Tracker application.

- (f):    In the state of Maharashtra under Integrated child development service scheme THR is provided to beneficiaries as per prescribed norms. The details of beneficiaries (31 st Jan 2026) are as follows
- o Pregnant Women: 3,09,928
- o Lactating mothers: 3,48,033
- o 6 months to 3 years children: 20,53,926
- o 3 years to 6 years children: 28,95,504 (Hot Cooked Meal is provided)
- o and Adolescent girls of Aspirational districts (4): 85,921

*****