Lok Sabha Question No. 302 (STARRED), answered on 2026-03-13
Subject: AWCs  in Madhya Pradesh
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. Lata Wankhede

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *302 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026

## AWCS IN MADHYA PRADESH

## *302.   DR. LATA WANKHEDE:

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

- (a) the total number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) operational in Madhya Pradesh and the number of beneficiaries covered therein;
- (b) the status of upgradation of AWCs  into 'Saksham Anganwadis' with better infrastructure and smart learning aids in the State;
- (c) the details of the implementation of the 'Poshan Tracker' application to monitor the nutritional status of children in the State;
- (d) the measures taken to fill the vacancies of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers in Madhya Pradesh; and
- (e) the  plan  of  the  Government  to  construct  pucca  buildings  for  the  AWCs  running  in rented or temporary structures in the State?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.302 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026 REGARDING 'AWCS IN MADHYA PRADESH'

- (a)  The  number  of  Anganwadi  Centres  and  beneficiaries  covered  therein  for  the  State  of Madhya Pradesh is available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.
- (b) A total of 24,662 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) have been sanctioned for upgradation as Saksham Anganwadi Centres for the State of Madhya Pradesh and as informed by the State, a total of 8,038 AWCs have been upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis.
- (c) 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 behaviors 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.

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.

A significant number of families availing Anganwadi services are migrant workers, who move from villages to urban areas for employment. Seasonal agricultural migrants travel to cities after the agricultural season and return to villages after a few months. To ensure uninterrupted service delivery, Poshan Tracker provides a facility for migration from one Anganwadi Centre to another, both within and across States. Through this module, beneficiaries can avail services at the nearest Anganwadi Centre at the destination location using the Migration-In facility. By entering the Aadhaar number, an AWW can migrate a beneficiary from another Anganwadi Centre.

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.

The  State/UT  wise  data  including  for  the  State  of  Madhya  Pradesh  from  Poshan  Tracker regarding  nutritional  status  of  children  and  services  at  AWCs  is  available  at  the  link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

(d)  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0  is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  scheme.  The Central Government is responsible for policy and planning and the State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for day-to-day program implementation including recruitment of staff for implementation of the scheme. The matter regarding filling up of vacant posts at various levels is regularly taken up with them through sustained engagements and video conferences so as to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the beneficiaries.

(e) Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, various steps have been undertaken to improve the infrastructure facilities at Anganwadi Centres. During 15 th  Finance Commission cycle,  50000  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.

In  convergence with Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education Guidelines for Co-locating Anganwadi Centres 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.

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