Lok Sabha Question No. 3678 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-13
Subject: Implementation of Women and Child Welfare Schemes in Tribal Areas
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3678

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026

## IMPLEMENTATION OF WOMEN AND CHILD WELFARE SCHEMES IN TRIBAL AREAS

## 3678. SHRI AASHTIKAR PATIL NAGESH BAPURAO:

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

- (a) whether the benefits of women and child welfare schemes such as Anganwadi Services, POSHAN Abhiyaan, PMMVY, ICDS, scholarships for girls, and health and nutrition programmes are not reaching eligible beneficiaries in a timely and effective manner in the  tribal-dominated  remote  areas  of  the  Hingoli  Parliamentary  Constituency  in Maharashtra;
- (b) whether women and children in these areas are facing serious problems such as irregular nutrition supply at Anganwadi centres, lack of basic facilities in Ashram schools and hostels, inadequate maternal and child health services in remote villages, increasing malnutrition and anaemia, delays in DBT and scholarship payments due to digital and banking constraints, and shortage of functional Anganwadi centres;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether any special action plan/special package has been proposed specifically for the said Parliamentary Constituency, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) For effective implementation and efficient monitoring, various schemes implemented by the Ministry of Women & Child Development for women and child welfare all over the country, including in tribal-dominated remote areas of the Hingoli Parliamentary Constituency in Maharashtra, have been reviewed and clubbed into three Umbrella Missions viz. (1) Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 for improving nutrition & health indicators (2) Mission Shakti,  for  safety,  protection  and  empowerment  of  women;  and  (3)  Mission  Vatsalya,  for protection, care and welfare of children in difficult circumstances. Details of the schemes are as under:

- (i)  Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0  (Mission  Poshan  2.0): Under  this  mission, Anganwadi Services Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls have been

reorganized into 3 primary sub-verticals: (i) Nutrition Support for Children, Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers and for Adolescent Girls (ii) Early Childhood Care and Education and (iii) Anganwadi Infrastructure including upgraded Saksham Anganwadis.

Under  this  Mission  the  details  of  beneficiaries  in  Hingoli  District  in  Maharashtra  as  on 28.02.2026 is as hereunder:

| Children          |   80103 |
|-------------------|---------|
| Pregnant Women    |    4829 |
| Lactating Mothers |    4942 |

(ii)  Mission  Shakti: It  aims  at  strengthening  interventions  for  women  safety,  security  and empowerment. Mission Shakti comprises of two verticals 'Sambal' for safety and security of women and "Samarthya for empowerment of women including rural and economically weaker regions  of  the  country.  The  'Sambal  has  components  of  One  Stop  Centre  (OSC),  Women Helpline(WHL),  Beti  Bachao  Beti  Padhao  (BBBP)  and  Nari  Adalat  (Nari  Adalat).  The 'Samarthya' has components of Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Padhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana  (PMMVY),  Palna  and  SANKALP:  Hub  for  Empowerment  of  Women  (SNKALP: HEW).

As of date, 67 One Stop Centres (OSCs) are operational in Maharashtra. Out of these, one OSC each is functioning in Hingoli, Nanded, and Yavatmal districts. Till 31 December 2025, OSCs have assisted more than 13.37 lakh women across the country, out of which 42,393 women have been assisted in the State of Maharashtra.

Till  31  January  2026,  Women  Helplines  (WHLs)  have  assisted  over  97.81  lakh  women nationwide,  including  3.57  lakh  women  in  Maharashtra.  Also,  one  Sakhi  Niwas  is  also functional in Hingoli district of Maharashtra.

Benefits  have  been  extended  to  over  4.27  crore  women  through  PMMVY  scheme  since inception till 09.03.2026. The details of beneficiaries who have been maternity benefits under PMMVY  in  the  Hingoli, Nanded  and Yavatmal Districts of Hingoli Parliamentary Constituency are as under:

|          | FY Wise Beneficiaries paid in the districts   | FY Wise Beneficiaries paid in the districts   | FY Wise Beneficiaries paid in the districts   |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| District | 2023-24                                       | 2024-25                                       | 2025-26 (as on 09.03.2026)                    |
| HINGOLI  | 583                                           | 2,634                                         | 6,698                                         |
| NANDED   | 3,292                                         | 15,624                                        | 21,030                                        |
| YAVATMAL | 1,737                                         | 13,889                                        | 22,458                                        |

(iii)  Mission  Vatsalya: Mission  Vatsalya  includes  the  Integrated  Child  Protection  Scheme (ICPS) for better outreach and protection for children in need and care in a mission mode with the  objective  to:  (i)  Support  and  sustain  Children  in  difficult  circumstances.  (ii)  Develop context-based  solutions  for  holistic  development  of  children  from  varied  backgrounds. (iii)Provide scope for encouraging innovative solutions, (iv) Cement convergent action.

Further,  several  steps  have  been  under  taken  to  strengthen  the  implementation  of  these schemes, as explained below:

- A new portal, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana Software (PMMVYSoft) has been  launched,  under  which  Aadhaar  authentication  through  UIDAI  and  National Payment Corporations of India (NPCI) verification is ensured so that funds are directly transferred to their DBT-enabled Aadhaar-seeded bank or post office accounts.
- Available database of the Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers from Poshan Tracker is used to create a 'Due List' of potential beneficiaries on PMMVY Portal accessible at AWW/ASHA level.
- IT systems have been leveraged to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition delivery support systems at the Anganwadi Centres. The '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.  The States/UTs have also been advised to discontinue the use of physical registers  and  use  Poshan  Tracker  to  reduce  work  load  of  Anganwadi  workers  and improving  their  efficiency.  To  track  last  mile  Service  Delivery,  Facial  Recognition System (FRS) is used for distribution of TakeHome Ration to ensure that benefit is given only to the intended beneficiary registered in Poshan Tracker.

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