Lok Sabha Question No. 1068 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-05
Subject: Digital Technologies in ICDS Scheme
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. 1068

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.12.2025

## DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN ICDS SCHEME

## 1068.   SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY:

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

- (a) the manner in which the digital technologies have been implemented in various aspects of ICDS Scheme indicating the percentage of Anganwadi's Centres (AWCs) that are using digital technologies for service delivery and the steps taken by the Government to expand adoption of digital tools in all AWCs;
- (b) whether digital technologies are helping Anganwadi workers in better service delivery, if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken to ensure that functioning and service deliveries of AWCs continues even in the absence of internet, slow internet connection, technical difficulties or software glitches;
- (c) the privacy policy regarding storage of sensitive information in the view of extensive use of Aadhar in ICDS;
- (d) whether people who do not have access to mobile phones and internet are still able to avail the full range of ICDS services, if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether adequate steps have been taken to ensure training of Anganwadi workers in using above said tools, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) whether the Government has received reports on issues faced by workers, if so, the steps taken to resolve the same?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b) Under Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0, IT systems have been leveraged to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition delivery support systems at the Anganwadi

Centres  (AWCs).  The  'Poshan  Tracker'  application  was  rolled  out  on  1st  March  2021  as  an important governance tool under the Mission.

The  Poshan  Tracker  facilitates  monitoring  and  tracking  of  all  AWCs,  Anganwadi  Workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries  on  defined  indicators.  Technology  under  Poshan  Tracker  is  being leveraged  for  dynamic  identification  of  stunting,  wasting,  under-weight  prevalence  among children. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, opening and  closing  of  AWCs,  daily  attendance  of  children,  growth  monitoring  of  children,  Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) activities, Delivery of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR-not raw ration), Growth Measurement etc. The App 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 self-learning videos for AWWs, enabling continuous capacity building and on-the-job learning through digital modules.

Further, 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.

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. All AWWs, supervisors and block coordinators are provided with internet connectivity charges at the rate of Rs. 2000 per annum per AWC.

Block and District Coordinators provide on-ground handholding support to AWWs for effective usage of the Poshan Tracker and resolution of technical glitches. Besides this, the States/UTs have also been advised to discontinue the use of physical registers.

(c) Various Data Protection Safeguards related to privacy exist in Poshan Tracker. Some of the data protection safeguards are mentioned below:

- The Poshan Tracker application is typically used by Anganwadi Workers, and it is not open to the public or any unauthorized party. Access is role-based, logged and monitored to prevent misuse.
- Further,  the  application's  internal  database  is  encrypted,  preventing  access  to  sensitive information outside the app environment
- The data of the beneficiary, which is collected, is subject to all existing data protection protocols, which mandates purpose limitation, informed consent, and access restrictions.
- ⁠All  requests  and  responses  related  to  Face  Verification  are  encrypted  during  transit, ensuring data is protected from interception or tampering.
- ⁠No images or data are stored permanently on the device. As a precautionary measure, all cached  or  temporary  data  is  wiped  automatically  when  the  AWW  logs  out  of  the application.
- The private data is not  publicly  accessible;  it  is  only  available  to  authorized  personnel solely for verification purposes.
- Face images are handled in encoded format within the app to ensure safe processing and transmission.

(d) Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0 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 where there are no entry barriers for any beneficiary to register and receive services .

(e) The Ministry through Savitri Bai Phule National Institute of Women and Child Development has  provided  training  to  different  stakeholders  for  using  Poshan  Tracker  Application  and Dashboard. Under the Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative, the Ministry is imparting training to all the officials and field functionaries in the States/ UTs through a cascading model of training, wherein  Master  Trainers  (namely,  District  Officers,  Block  Coordinators  and  Supervisors)  are trained  and  the  master  trainers  further  train  all  Anganwadi  Workers  in  the  field.  As  on  30 th November 2025, 8,95,814 AWWs have been trained across the country.

(f) Grievance Redressal Mechanism is an integral part of Poshan 2.0. Anganwadi Workers can submit  their  grievances  on  Poshan  Tracker  Application  and  Dashboard  as  well.  Besides  this, Poshan  Helpline  (1515),  operationalized  since  November  2022  for  registering  grievances  of AWWs. Through the helpline, a worker can raise the issues being faced related to the application. The helpline is available in 17 languages.

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