Lok Sabha Question No. 2071 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: PM Poshan and Saksham Anganwadi
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Adv. Chandra Shekhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2071 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025

## PM POSHAN AND SAKSHAM ANGANWADI

## 2071.   ADV. CHANDRA SHEKHAR:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) the reason for one-third of Indian children remaining stunted despite the PM POSHAN Scheme and Saksham Anganwadi initiatives running for years in the country;
- (b) whether an independent impact assessment of these schemes has been conducted postGlobal Hunger Index (GHI) 2025 release;
- (c) if so, the details of the findings and corrective actions suggested; and
- (d) if not, the reasons for such glaring oversight?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (d) :  Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan  Shakti  Nirman  (PM  POSHAN)  Scheme  is  one  of  the foremost rights based Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented in partnership with the States and Union Territories (UTs) for providing one hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children studying  in  Bal  Vatika  (just  before  class-I)  and  classes  I  to  VIII  of  Government  and Government-aided schools. The Scheme covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35 lakh schools in all the States/ UTs. The overall responsibility for providing hot cooked and nutritious meal to the eligible children lies with the State Governments and Union Territory (UT)  Administrations.  There  is  a  provision  of  5%  of  total  recurring  budget  as  the  flexi component to be used by the States/UTs as per their requirement. It may be used for setting up of  School  Nutrition  Gardens  and  provision  of  Supplementary  Nutrition  interventions  viz., Chikki, Eggs, Milk, Fruits and additional food items etc. in identified districts. The States and Union Territory Administrations are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure locally grown food items like millets, vegetables, condiments etc.

During the celebration of Shiksha Saptah more than 2 crore meals were provided under Tithi Bhojan. Overall, about 6.43 crore students studying in 5.77 lakh schools were benefitted under Tithi Bhojan across the country. The School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs) have been set up in more than 6.28 lakh schools under the Scheme.

In  order  to  improve  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  the  scheme,  Government  approved several initiatives including 'Vocal for Local' under which States and UTs are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure locally grown food items like millets, vegetables, condiments etc. from Farmers' Producers Organizations, Federation of Women's Self -Help Groups etc. so as to promote local employment  generation  and  economic  development  while  simultaneously  improving  the nutrition standards. The Government of India has issued detailed guidelines to improve the implementation of the scheme to all the States/UTs. These guidelines are available on official website https://pmposhan.education.gov.in.

To address the challenge of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls (14-18 years, in Aspirational Districts and North-Eastern region) have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0).  It  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 open to all eligible beneficiaries, i.e., Children under 6 years of age, pregnant women, lactating mothers till 6 months after childbirth and adolescent girls (14-18 years of age) in Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts of the country. The Mission is being implemented across the country.

Global Hunger Index is published by 3 Non-Government Organizations (viz., Welt Hunger Hilfe of Germany, Concern Worldwide of Ireland and Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict of Germany). It  is  a  flawed  measure  of  'Hunger'  and  does  no t  reflect India's true position. Three out of four of its constituent indicators namely, Stunting, Wasting and Under Five Mortality Rate are actually related to health and nourishment levels of children. They cannot be projected to reflect prevalence of hunger in the overall population. Only one indicator, Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU), is directly related to hunger, and even this indicator suffers from  significant methodological  and  data  limitations.  Owing  to  the probabilistic nature of its estimation and uncertainties in underlying parameters, the precision of PoU estimates is generally low. The other two indicators, viz., stunting and wasting, are not measures  of  hunger,  but outcomes  of  multiple complex  factors including sanitation, environmental  conditions,  disease  burden,  maternal  health,  genetics,  and  food  utilisation. Similarly, the fourth indicator, i.e., Under Five Mortality Rate, is influenced by a wide set of determinants such as access to healthcare, immunisation coverage, sanitation and hygiene, safe drinking  water,  and  overall  socio-economic  conditions.  In  view  of  these  shortcomings,  the methodology adopted by GHI is 'flawed' and it cannot be taken to reflect hunger in the overall population. Under Mission Poshan 2.0, these key indicators like stunting and wasting along with underweight among children are being monitored through Poshan Tracker.

Further,  the  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS)  is  a  large-scale,  multi-round  survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. It provides report on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning services. Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 are given below:

| NFHS Survey                   | Stunting   |   %Underweight |   %Wasting% |
|-------------------------------|------------|----------------|-------------|
| NFHS-1 (1992-93) *            | 52         |          53.4  |       17.5  |
| NFHS-2 (1998-99) **           | 45.5       |          47    |       15.5  |
| NFHS-3 (2005-6) ***           | 48.0       |          42.5  |       19.8  |
| NFHS-4 (2015-16) ***          | 38.4       |          35.8  |       21    |
| NFHS-5 (2019-21) ***          | 35.5       |          32.1  |       19.3  |
| Poshan Tracker (October 2025) | ***33.54   |          14.41 |        5.03 |

* Under 4 years
- ** Under 3 years
- *** Under 5 years

The analysis of the above NFHS data and the Poshan Tracker data shows improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across the country.

In 2021, the World Bank conducted a survey in 11 priority States (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh) to assess the program's delivery of nutrition servic es. The findings demonstrated that the services delivered under the Poshan Abhiyaan -the receipt of relevant messages, home visits by the Anganwadi worker, and attendance at community-based events -were associated with improved nutrition behaviors. The survey also found that the program's nutrition  messages  reached  more  than  80%  of  women,  and  that  81%  of  women  practiced exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

A third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and also in 2025 for Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 and has found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country

In order to effectively address the issue of malnutrition a multi-sectoral approach involving dimensions of food, health, water, sanitation and education is crucial. It is being addressed under  the  Mission  by  establishing  cross  cutting  convergence  amongst  more  than  18 Ministries/Departments.

Under this Mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls (14-18 years) in accordance with nutrition  norms  contained  in  Schedule-II  of  the  National  Food  Security  Act,  2013.  These norms have been revised in January 2023. The revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced  in  terms  of  both  quantity  and  quality  of  supplementary  nutrition  based  on  the principles of diet diversity and recommend provision of quality protein, healthy fats and 7 essential micronutrients (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Dietary Folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin-B6 and Vitamin B-12).

Fortified  rice  is  being  supplied  under  supplementary  nutrition  programme  to  meet  the requirement of micro-nutrients among women and children. Greater emphasis is laid on the use of millets at least once a week for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take-Home ration at Anganwadi Centers.

Ministries  of  Women  &  Child  Development  and  Health  &  Family  Welfare  have  jointly released the protocol for Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children to prevent and treat  severely  acute  malnutrition  in  children  and  for  reducing  associated  morbidity  and mortality.

Poshan Tracker an ICT tool has been implemented for 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, under-weight prevalence among children in the whole country including tribal and remote areas. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, opening and closing of AWCs, daily attendance of children, ECCE activities, delivery of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration  (THR),  Growth  Measurement  etc.  The  App  also  offers  counselling  videos  on  key behaviours and services which help disseminate messages on birth preparedness, delivery, post-natal care, breastfeeding, and complementary feeding.

Under this Mission, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of healthy eating habits requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maahs and Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month. Additionally,  Village  Health  Sanitation  and  Nutrition  Days  (VHSNDs)  are  observed  by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in convergence with Ministry of Women and Child Development for  creating  mass  awareness  on  maternal  and  child  health  services  including nutrition.

Two lakh Anganwadi Centres have been approved to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis for  improved  nutrition  delivery  and  for  imparting  early  childhood  care  and  development. Saksham  Anganwadis  are  provided  with  better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi  Centres  which  includes  internet/Wi-Fi connectivity, LED  screens,  water purifier/installation of RO Machine and smart learning equipments.

The  PM  JANMAN  Mission  launched  by  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  aims  for  targeted development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) residing in 18 States and a UT. This Mission focuses on 11 critical interventions related to 9 key Ministries including Ministry of Women and Child Development. As on date, a total of 2500 AWCs have been approved for construction under PM JANMAN across the country. A total of 178 number of AWCs have been approved for construction under PM JANMAN in the State of Maharashtra.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched Dharti Aaba Janjati Gram Unnat Abhiyan (DAJGUA) aimed  at  improving  the  socio-economic  condition  of  tribal  communities  by  adopting saturation  coverage  of  tribal  families  in  tribal  majority  areas  and  aspirational  block  ST villages.

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