Lok Sabha Question No. 4746 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: AWCs in Uttar Pradesh
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Devesh Shakya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 4746

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026

## AWCs IN UTTAR PRADESH

## 4746.  SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA

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

- (a) the total number of sanctioned and operational Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) in the Etah and  Kasganj  districts  of  Uttar  Pradesh  and  the  number  of  them  which  are  fully functional at present;
- (b) the details of AWCs in Etah and Kasganj districts operating in departmental buildings, Panchayat/School buildings, and rented premises;
- (c) whether any Development Block within these two districts has been identified as an Aspirational  Block,  if  so,  the  details  of  special  provisions,  additional  resources  or infrastructure development works sanctioned for strengthening Anganwadi services in such blocks; and
- (d) whether any specific Action Plan has been implemented by the Government for the construction  of  new  Anganwadi  buildings,  improvement  in  the  quality  of  nutrition services and strengthening of Digital Growth Monitoring in the districts of Etah and Kasganj?

## ANSWER

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

(a)   The district wise number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) functioning in the State of Uttar Pradesh  under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0  are  available  at  the  link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

(b)  The  details  of  AWCs  in  Etah  and  Kasganj  districts  operating  in  owned  buildings, Panchayat/School buildings/Community buildings, and rented premises are placed at Annexure.

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

Further, States and 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  Abha  Janjatiye  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 strengthened as Saksham Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition and for Early  Childhood  Care  and  Education  in  the  15th  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. As on 28.02.2026, a total of  2  lakh  AWCs  have  been  approved  for  upgradation  as  Saksham  Anganwadis  across  the country including 145 AWCs for the district of Etah and 9 AWCs for the district of Kasganj.

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  3rd  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.

Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  AWCs  have  been  technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones and growth monitoring devices for efficient monitoring and delivery of services.

Poshan Tracker application was rolled out as an important governance tool which 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 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.

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.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (B)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4746 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 REGARDING ' AWCS IN UTTAR PRADESH '

The  details  of  AWCs  in  Etah  and  Kasganj  districts  of  Uttar  Pradesh  operating  in  owned buildings, Panchayat/ School buildings/Community buildings, and rented premises

| District   |   Owned |   Co-located with school |   Panchayat |   Community building |   Any other govt owned building |   Rented |
|------------|---------|--------------------------|-------------|----------------------|---------------------------------|----------|
| Etah       |     416 |                     1129 |          20 |                  246 |                              44 |        9 |
| Kasganj    |     288 |                     1648 |          50 |                  148 |                             184 |      126 |

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