Lok Sabha Question No. 2267 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: Poshan  Abhiyan
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Sasikanth Senthil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2267 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025

## POSHAN ABHIYAN

## 2267.  SHRI SASIKANTH SENTHIL:

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

- (a) whether the Government has been able to achieve the key objectives of Poshan Abhiyan in Tamil Nadu, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) the number of Anganwadi Centres in said State where Poshan Abhiyan is currently being implemented, district-wise; and
- (c) whether  the  Ministry  has  conducted  any  evaluation/study  on  the  outcomes  of  this scheme in the said State, if so, the details along with the findings thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a): Poshan  Abhiyan  was  launched  in  2018  which  has  been  subsumed  under  the  umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 along with Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent  girls  (14-18  years,  in  Aspirational  Districts  and  North-Eastern  region).  It  is  a Centrally Sponsored Mission, where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. This Mission is a universal self-selecting umbrella scheme open to  all  eligible  beneficiaries,  i.e.,  Children  under  6  years  of  age,  pregnant  women,  lactating mothers till 6 months after childbirth and adolescent girls (14-18 years of age) in Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts of the country. This Mission is being implemented across the country including the State of Tamil Nadu.

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

(b): District  wise  status  of  implementation  of  the  Scheme  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  is available at https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics. A total of 54,481 Anganwadi Centres are operational in the State of Tamil Nadu.

- (c): The  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS)  is  a  large-scale,  multi-round  survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. It provides report on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning services. Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 are given below:
* Under 4 years
- ** Under 3 years
- *** Under 5 years

| NFHS Survey                   | Stunting   |   %Underweight |   %Wasting% |
|-------------------------------|------------|----------------|-------------|
| NFHS-1 (1992-93) *            | 52         |          53.4  |       17.5  |
| NFHS-2 (1998-99) **           | 45.5       |          47    |       15.5  |
| NFHS-3 (2005-6) ***           | 48.0       |          42.5  |       19.8  |
| NFHS-4 (2015-16) ***          | 38.4       |          35.8  |       21    |
| NFHS-5 (2019-21) ***          | 35.5       |          32.1  |       19.3  |
| Poshan Tracker (October 2025) | ***33.54   |          14.41 |        5.03 |

The analysis of the above NFHS data and the Poshan Tracker data shows improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across the country including the State of Tamil Nadu.

Further, from the Poshan Tracker, the status of nutritional indicators and its improvement over the years in the State of Tamil Nadu may be seen below:

| Poshan Tracker Data for the State of Tamil Nadu   | Poshan Tracker Data for the State of Tamil Nadu   | Poshan Tracker Data for the State of Tamil Nadu   | Poshan Tracker Data for the State of Tamil Nadu   | Poshan Tracker Data for the State of Tamil Nadu   |
|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| Indicators                                        | October- 22                                       | October- 23                                       | October- 24                                       | October-25                                        |
| Stunted Children (%)                              | 22.59                                             | 16.57                                             | 13.39                                             | 11.56                                             |
| Wasted Children (%)                               | 6.05                                              | 4.75                                              | 3.57                                              | 3.32                                              |
| Underweight Children (%)                          | 10.53                                             | 8.08                                              | 7.06                                              | 5.77                                              |

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 also in 2025 for Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 and has found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country including Tamil Nadu.

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