Lok Sabha Question No. 4795 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: Prevalence of Malnutrition and Anaemia in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. C M Ramesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4795

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026

## PREVALENCE OF MALNUTRITION AND ANAEMIA IN ANDHRA PRADESH

## 4795.  DR C M RAMESH:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  to  assess  the  prevalence  of malnutrition and anaemia among women and children in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Anakapalli district, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the number of children (0-5 years) suffering from stunting, wasting, underweight and anaemia and women (including pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls) suffering from anaemia in the said State during the last three years, district-wise;
- (c) the details of funds allocated, released and utilised under ICDS/Anganwadi Services and POSHAN Abhiyaan in the said State, particularly for the said district, during the last three years;
- (d) whether there are vacancies of Anganwadi Workers, Supervisors and nutrition supply gaps in the said district, if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken to fill such vacancies and strengthen nutrition delivery; and
- (e) the measures taken to reduce anaemia among adolescent girls and pregnant women in the said district?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): Under the Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Supplementary Nutrition is  provided  to  Children  (6  months  to  6  years),  Pregnant  Women,  Lactating  Mothers  and Adolescent  Girls  in  accordance  with  the  nutrition  norms  contained  in  Schedule-II  of  the National Food Security Act, 2013, with special provisions for undernourished children.

For monitoring and tracking of all activities in the AWCs, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries  on  defined  indicators,  the  Ministry  has  launched  'Poshan  Tracker'  digital application.  It  has  facilitated  near  real  time  data  collection  for  Anganwadi  Services.  The application has enabled the Ministry and States & UTs to review the implementation of the scheme on various parameters including health and nutrition status of the children and to make course corrections. The district wise information on malnutrition among children (0-5 years) in the Andhra Pradesh is available on the Poshan Tracker public dashboard at the given link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.

Primarily, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare keeps record of data of Children and women  (including  pregnant  and  lactating  mothers  and  adolescent  girls)  suffering  from anaemia. The per National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data of the number of children (05 years) and women (including pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls) suffering from anemia in Andhra Pradesh and district-wise is placed in the Annexure.

Details of funds released under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to the State of Andhra Pradesh and the district of Anakapalli during the last three years are as below:

(Rupees in crores)

|                | 2022-23       | 2022-23       | 2023-24       | 2023-24       | 2024-25       | 2024-25       |
|----------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|                | Fund released | Fund Utilised | Fund released | Fund Utilised | Fund released | Fund Utilised |
| Andhra Pradesh | 827.79        | 721.45        | 705.68        | 734.52        | 645.73        | -             |
| Anakapalli     | 0.88          | 0.50          | 0.98          | 1.03          | 1.27          | 0.87          |

Details  of  vacancies  of  Anganwadi  Workers  and  Supervisors  in  the  Anakapalli  district  of Andhra Pradesh are as below:

|   S. | NoCategory        |   Sanctioned | Filled                   |   Vacant |
|------|-------------------|--------------|--------------------------|----------|
|    1 | Anganwadi Workers |         1841 | 1818                     |       23 |
|    2 | Supervisors Gr-1  |           44 | 36                       |        8 |
|    3 | Supervisors Gr-2  |           32 | 16 (1 Contract employee) |       16 |

The matter regarding filling up of vacant posts at various levels is regularly taken up by the Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  with  the  States  and  UTs  through  sustained engagements  and  video  conferences  to  ensure  uninterrupted  delivery  of  services  to  the beneficiaries.  The  Government  of  Andhra  Pradesh  is  actively  working  to  fill  the  vacant positions.

A survey on Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by the World Bank in 2021 in 11 priority States (including Andhra Pradesh) which bore the highest burden of stunting among children and anemia among women. The survey showed positive results, both in the delivery of services and nutrition practices including consumption of iron and folic acid supplements (IFA) by 56-67% of beneficiaries for at least 100 days.

Further, a third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and also in 2025 for Mission Poshan 2.0. These assessments have found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country. NITI Aayog has also got  conducted  outcome-based  evaluation  of  Mission  Saksham  Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0 during the period 2019 -20 to 2023 -24 in 12 selected States (including Andhra Pradesh) and one  UT  of  Chandigarh.  Evidence  from  institutional  assessments  and  household  surveys indicated that in its current form, Mission Poshan 2.0 represents the Government's latest effort to  holistically  combat  malnutrition  and  promote  child  development,  by  building  on  past programs with a converged and strengthened approach. Further, on the micronutrient front, the prevalence of anaemia among children aged 6 -59 months declined by 8.5 percentage points, and among pregnant women by 1.8 percentage points, reflecting the potential impact of iron- folic  acid  supplementation,  fortified  foods,  and  improved  outreach  under  SNP  and  related interventions. States such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have made considerable progress in  adopting  digital  tools  for  THR  distribution,  attendance  monitoring,  and  supervisory oversight, thereby enhancing fund utilization and ensuring timely service delivery

(e) : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implements Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy to reduce prevalence of anemia among six beneficiaries age groups - children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in a life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism. These six interventions include Prophylactic iron and Folic Acid supplementation (IFA Syrup provided biweekly to Children 6-59 months, IFA Pink tablets provided to Children 5-9 years, IFA Blue tablets provided to Adolescent 1019 years, IFA Red tablets provided weekly to Women of Reproductive age group and IFA Red tablets daily for 180 days provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers), Deworming (Pregnant women provided albendazole tablet in second trimester and all children provided albendazole  tablets  during  National  Deworming  Day),  intensified  Behavioural  Change Communication  campaign,  Testing  for  anemia  and  treatment  as  per  anemia  management protocols,  Mandatory  provision  of  IFA  fortified  food  in  public  health  programmes  and addressing non nutritional causes of anemia especially malaria, fluorosis and hemoglobinopathies.

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## Annexure DISTRICT-WISE DATA ON ANEMIA IN THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, AS PER NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY-5 (2019-2021)

| Name of District            |   the Children age months who anaemic (<11.0 (%) | 6-59 are g/dl) Pregnant Women who are anaemic (<11.0 g/dl) (%)   |   All women age 15-49 years who are anaemic (%) |   All women age 15- 19 years who are anaemic (%) |
|-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Srikakulam                  |                                             59.6 | -                                                                |                                            62.6 |                                             59.2 |
| Vizianagaram                |                                             66.7 | -                                                                |                                            64   |                                             73.9 |
| Visakhapatnam               |                                             72.6 | -                                                                |                                            58   |                                             58.9 |
| East Godavari               |                                             66.8 | -                                                                |                                            63   |                                             65.2 |
| West Godavari               |                                             62.3 | -                                                                |                                            63   |                                             66.8 |
| Krishna                     |                                             65.7 | -                                                                |                                            60.3 |                                             59   |
| Guntur                      |                                             59.3 | 51.9                                                             |                                            59.5 |                                             54.6 |
| Prakasam                    |                                             62.6 | -                                                                |                                            60.4 |                                             64.8 |
| Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore |                                             67.5 | -                                                                |                                            59.4 |                                             68.6 |
| Y.S.R.                      |                                             60.6 | 57.6                                                             |                                            56.1 |                                             60.2 |
| Kumool                      |                                             70.8 | 67.8                                                             |                                            58.6 |                                             61.1 |
| Anantapur                   |                                             55.8 | 54.9                                                             |                                            50.5 |                                             50   |
| Chittoor                    |                                             54.9 | 52.7                                                             |                                            51.8 |                                             43.9 |

*****