Lok Sabha Question No. 2260 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: Poshan 2.0
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. D Ravi Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2260 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025

## POSHAN 2.0

## 2260.  DR. D RAVI KUMAR:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  compiled  district-wise  data  on  nutritional  outcomes among tribal women and children under Poshan 2.0 till September, 2025;
- (b) if so, details of the prevalence of anaemia and undernutrition among tribal populations above the national average, State-wise and district-wise;
- (c) whether the Ministry has assessed the impact of Tribal Health/Wellness Centres and Poshan Vatikas in improving these indicators; and
- (d) if so, the key findings thereof alongwith the timeline by which such an evaluation report is expected to be made public?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b): The 'Poshan Tracker' application was rolled out on 1st March 2021 as an important governance tool. The Poshan Tracker facilitates monitoring and tracking of all Anganwadi Centres  (AWCs),  Anganwadi  Workers  (AWWs)  and  beneficiaries  on  defined  indicators. Technology under Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, underweight prevalence among children. The detail of malnutrition indicators, Statewise, district-wise, including in tribal districts is available at: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics

Details of prevalence of Anaemia among Women (15-49 years) in Tribal Population of India as per NFHS-5 (2019-2020) are placed in Annexure I.

(c)  &  (d): A  key  component  of  the  Mission  Poshan  2.0  is  to  enable  the  right  kind  of nourishment through Poshan Vatikas or Nutri-gardens 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 main objective of introducing the concept of Poshan Vatika is to encourage community members to cultivate local food crops in their backyards. A nutrition garden ensures an inexpensive, regular and handy supply of fresh fruits and vegetables that are basic to good nutrition. Green vegetables and seasonal fruits contain vitamins and minerals that protect against micro-nutrient deficiencies and diseases.

In 2021, the World Bank conducted a survey in 11 priority States (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh) to assess the program's delivery of nutrition servic es. The findings demonstrated that the services delivered under the Poshan Abhiyaan -the receipt of relevant messages, home visits by the Anganwadi worker, and attendance at community-based events -were associated with improved nutrition behaviors. The survey also found that the program's nutrition  messages  reached  more  than  80%  of  women  and  that  81%  of  women  practiced exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

A third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and in 2025 for Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 and has found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country.

Ayushman  Arogya  Mandirs  (AAMs)  [erstwhile  Ayushman  Bharat  Health  and  Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs)] is an attempt to move from a selective approach to health care to deliver comprehensive range of services spanning preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative  care.  It  has  two  components  which  are  complementary  to  each  other.  Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are envisaged to deliver expanded range services that go beyond Maternal and child  health  care  services  to  include  care  for  non  -communicable  diseases,  palliative  and rehabilitative care, Oral, Eye and ENT care, mental health and first level care for emergencies and trauma, including free essential drugs and diagnostic services.

As reported by States/UTs on AAM portal, a total of 1,80,906 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs) [erstwhile Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs)] have been operationalized  by  strengthening  Sub  Health  Centres  (SHCs)  and  Primary  Health  Centres (PHCs) in India, till 31.10.2025.

Development  Monitoring  and  Evaluation  Office  (DMEO),  NITI  Aayog  has  commissioned evaluation of AAM programme in July 2024 assessing its implementation and impact. The study  highlights  several  encouraging  outcomes,  including  significant  improvements  in infrastructure and increased community footfall because of wider access to Comprehensive Primary  Health Care services -especially  for  NCD  management,  general  Out-Patient

Department  (OPD)  care,  free  medicines  and  diagnostics.  The  introduction  of  Community Health  Officers  has  strengthened  frontline  service  delivery  and  digital  tools  such  as  eSanjeevani have expanded access to specialist care.

Under NHM, the performance of various health programmes is also regularly monitored in all the States/UTs, through review meetings, mid-term reviews of key deliverables, field visits of senior  officials,  promoting  performance  by  setting  up  benchmarks  for  service  delivery  & rewarding achievements etc. Also, Common Review Missions (CRM) are conducted annually to assess and monitor the progress and implementation status under the scheme.

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## Annexure I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2260 FOR 12.12.2025 REGARDING 'POSHAN 2.0' ASKED BY DR. D RAVI KUMAR

The  State  wise  details  of  prevalence  of  Anaemia  among  Women  (15-49  years)  in  Tribal Population of India as per NFHS-5 (2019-2020) is as follows:

|   Sr. No. | States/UTs              |   Anaemia among Women (15-49 years) |
|-----------|-------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andaman &Nicobar Island |                                30.5 |
|         2 | Andhra Pradesh          |                                62.6 |
|         3 | Arunachal Pradesh       |                                36.3 |
|         4 | Assam                   |                                69.2 |
|         5 | Bihar                   |                                64.7 |
|         6 | Chandigarh              |                                 0   |
|         7 | Chhattisgarh            |                                70.9 |
|         8 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli     |                                70.9 |
|         9 | Delhi                   |                                51.5 |
|        10 | Goa                     |                                42.5 |
|        11 | Gujarat                 |                                78.3 |
|        12 | Haryana                 |                                64.2 |
|        13 | Himachal Pradesh        |                                53.8 |
|        14 | Jammu &Kashmir          |                                68.6 |
|        15 | Jharkhand               |                                72   |
|        16 | Karnataka               |                                46.2 |
|        17 | Kerala                  |                                52.9 |
|        18 | Ladakh                  |                                92.4 |
|        19 | Lakshadweep             |                                24.2 |
|        20 | Madhya Pradesh          |                                64.2 |
|        21 | Maharashtra             |                                59.7 |
|        22 | Manipur                 |                                26.8 |
|        23 | Meghalaya               |                                53.3 |
|        24 | Mizoram                 |                                34.3 |
|        25 | Nagaland                |                                27.7 |
|        26 | Odisha                  |                                71.7 |
|        27 | Puducherry              |                                67.3 |
|        28 | Punjab                  |                                54.4 |

|   29 | Rajasthan     |   61.6 |
|------|---------------|--------|
|   30 | Sikkim        |   42.6 |
|   31 | Tamil Nadu    |   59   |
|   32 | Telangana     |   64   |
|   33 | Tripura       |   66.8 |
|   34 | Uttar Pradesh |   51.1 |
|   35 | Uttarakhand   |   56   |
|   36 | West Bengal   |   82.4 |

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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