Lok Sabha Question No. 5565 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-27
Subject: AWCs in Rajasthan
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Amra Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5565

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026

## AWCs IN RAJASTHAN

## 5565.   SHRI AMRA RAM:

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

- (a) the number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) currently operational along with the number of such centres functioning without their own buildings in Sikar district of Rajasthan;
- (b) the current strength of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers deployed in these centres and the number of women and children registered as beneficiaries, AWC-wise;
- (c) the date when the honorarium of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers was last enhanced by the Central Government; and
- (d) whether  there  is  any  proposal  under  consideration  for  a  further  increase  in  the honorarium, if so, the time by which the said proposal is likely to be finalized and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, a package of six services are provided to  the  eligible  beneficiaries  i.e  Supplementary  Nutrition  (SNP),   Pre-school  Nonformal  Education, Nutrition  &  Health  Education,   Immunization,  Health  Check-up,  and Referral Services. Three of the six services, viz., Immunization, Health check-up and Referral Services are related to health and are provided through National Health Mission (NHM) & Public Health Infrastructure.

These services are provided to the eligible registered beneficiaries through the platform of Anganwadi Centre. Each Anganwadi Centre consists of an Anganwadi Worker and Anganwadi Helper who are honorary workers from the local community who voluntarily come forward to render their services in the area of child care and development to help the local community.

Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) are honorary workers drawn from the local community who voluntarily come forward to render their services in the area of child care and development to help the local community for which they are paid honorarium. This honorarium is increased from time to time. From 1 st October, 2018, Government of India has enhanced the honorarium of AWWs at Anganwadi centres (AWCs) from Rs.3,000/- to Rs.4,500/- per month and AWHs from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.2,250/- per month as per the defined cost sharing ratio between the Centre and States and UTs. In addition, States and UTs are also paying  additional  monetary  incentives  and  top  ups  to  these  functionaries  from  their  own resources which vary from State to State.

Besides,  performance  linked  incentive  of  Rs.500/-  per  month  is  provided  to  AWWs  and Rs.250/- per month to AWHs.

Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  AWWs  have  been  technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones for efficient monitoring and delivery of services. Poshan Tracker which is a mobile phone application that has digitized physical registers used by Anganwadi workers. This improves the quality of their work while simultaneously enabling them for real-time monitoring of all activities going on in the Anganwadis.

To incentivize and encourage the AWWs and AWHs, various initiatives have been undertaken including the following:

- i. Promotion:  Under  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0,  promotional opportunities for AWWs and AWHs have been enhanced. 50% posts of AWWs are to be filled by AWHs with 5 years of experience and 50% posts of Supervisors are to be filled by promotion of AWWs with 5 years of experience subject to fulfilment of other criteria.
- ii. Leave: 20 days' annual leave and paid maternity absence of 180 days and paid absence on abortion/ miscarriage once for 45 days.
- iii. State Governments and UT Administrations have been requested to encourage eligible AWWs and AWHs to get themselves enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan (PM-SYM) Pension Scheme, which is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme for the unorganized sector in the country to ensure old age protection.
- iv. Social Security Insurance Schemes: Insurance benefits have been provided to AWWs and AWHs under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) for life cover worth Rs.2.00 lakh (covers life risk, death due to any reason) in the age group of 18 to 50  years  and  under  Pradhan  Mantri  Suraksha  Bima  Yojana  for  accidental  cover  of Rs.2.00 Lakh (accidental death and permanent full disability) /Rs.1.00 Lakh (partial but permanent disability) in the age group of 18-59 years.
- v. Retirement date: States and UTs have been requested to adopt a uniform retirement date i.e 30 th  April of each year with respect to AWWs and AWHs to ensure proper human resource planning.
- vi. Annual Healthcare coverage of Rs. 5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to all AWWs and AWHs in pursuance to budget announcement in FY 2024-25.

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  and  UT Administrations are responsible for day-to-day program implementation of the scheme.

The details  of  the  number  of  Anganwadi  Centres  (AWCs) operational in owned buildings, infrastructure, field functionaries and beneficiaries in Sikar district in State of Rajasthan are available on Poshan Tracker public dashboard at: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

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