Lok Sabha Question No. 3634 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-13
Subject: Infrastructure Facilities at AWCs
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Smt. Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3634 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026

## INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES AT AWCS

3634. SMT. POONAMBEN HEMATBHAI MAADAM:

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

- (a) whether the Government has taken steps to enhance infrastructure facilities at Anganwadi Centres, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  number  of  Anganwadi  Centres  functioning  in  the  country  along  with  the  number of beneficiaries enrolled therein, State/UT-wise; and
- (c) whether the Government is leveraging technology to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition delivery support systems at Anganwadi Centres, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)         Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  various  steps  have  been undertaken to improve the infrastructure facilities at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). During 15 th 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 15 th  Finance Commission (FC) (or any other untied funds) and  Rs.2.00  Lakh  by  MWCD  per  AWC  shared  between  Centre  and  States/UTs  in  the prescribed cost sharing ratio.

Further, States/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  Aaba  Janjatiya  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.

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 15 th  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.

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 3 rd 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.

- (b)     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 State and UT wise details of functioning Aanganwadi centres along with the number of beneficiaries enrolled therein is available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.
- (c)  Poshan Tracker application has been rolled out as an important governance tool facilitating monitoring  and  tracking  of  all  AWCs,  Anganwadi  workers  and  beneficiaries  on  defined indicators. Technology under Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting and under-weight 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) and Take Home Ration (THR), Growth Measurement etc.

For  last  mile  tracking  of  Service  Delivery,  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development (MWCD) has developed  Facial  Recognition  System  (FRS)  for  distribution  of  Take-Home Ration to ensure that benefit is given only to the intended beneficiary registered in Posha n Tracker after establishing their identity.

The Nominee Module has been introduced in Poshan Tracker to ensure uninterrupted delivery of Take-Home Ration (THR) to all 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.

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