**Executive Summary**
This document, released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, outlines key initiatives under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to strengthen Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in India. It emphasizes the importance of ECCE for lifelong learning and development. Noteworthy is the announcement of training programs, financial provisions, and the integration of Anganwadi centers with primary schools.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Policy and Frameworks:**
* ECCE is recognized as crucial for lifelong development and breaking intergenerational inequity.
* National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 stresses appropriate early childhood stimulation.
* The National Curricular Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) was launched in October 2022, offering a structure for syllabus, teacher training, and learning material for ages 3-8.
* **Key Initiatives:**
* **Navchetana:** A National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation (launched March 2024) targeting children up to 3 years, aiming to empower caregivers and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs).
* **Aadharshila:** A National Curriculum for ECCE for ages 3-6 (launched March 2024) to ensure holistic development.
* **Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB):** Launched May 10, 2023, for upgrading AWWs' skills to provide ECCE and nutrition.
* Training programs for AWWs: as of February 3, 2026, 41,645 State Level Master Trainers (SLMTs) and 10,05,756 AWWs have been trained.
* **Nutrition Support:** Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) for Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PWLM) and children (6 months – 6 years).
* **Financial Provisions:** ₹3,000 per Anganwadi Centre annually for Pre-School Education (PSE) Kits.
* **Digital Resources:** Daily learning prompts (videos, voice notes, PDFs) are digitally provided to AWWs via the Poshan Tracker.
* **Early Stimulation Support:** Videos and activities developed for children aged 0-3 years to support structured home visits.
* **'Vidyarambh' ECCE Certificate:** Introduced for smooth transition from Anganwadi to Grade I.
* **ECCE Days:** Celebrated monthly at Anganwadis to stimulate parental engagement.
* **Convergence and Integration:**
* Anganwadi Centers are being co-located within Government Primary Schools (2.9 lakh centers currently).
* Guidelines for co-locating Anganwadi Centers within Government Primary Schools were released on September 3rd 2025.
* DoSEL supports infrastructure creation for pre-primary students in Government Schools.
* **Technological Integration:**
* Provision for creating Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) and Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID enabled on Poshan Tracker for children.
* **Community Involvement:**
* ASHA workers conduct structured home visits to improve child rearing practices under HBNC and HBYC programs.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Anganwadi Workers (AWWs)**
* **Impact**: Enhanced skills through upgraded training programs and access to digital resources. Required to implement new curriculum and stimulation techniques.
* **Action Required**: Participate in training, utilize digital resources, and implement new initiatives.
**Stakeholder: Children (0-6 years)**
* **Impact**: Access to improved ECCE, nutrition, and healthcare services. Benefit from integrated curriculum and stimulation activities.
* **Action Required**: Access and participate in Anganwadi programs and utilize provided services.
**Stakeholder: Parents and Caregivers**
* **Impact**: Empowerment through educational frameworks and support for child stimulation, increased access to ECCE programs and resources for their children.
* **Action Required**: Engage in ECCE Days, participate in home visits, and support children's learning.
**Stakeholder: Government (Ministry of Women and Child Development, Department of School Education and Literacy)**
* **Impact**: Responsible for implementing and monitoring ECCE programs, allocating resources, and ensuring convergence between Anganwadi centers and primary schools.
* **Action Required**: Allocate funds, provide training and resources, monitor program effectiveness, and facilitate collaboration between departments.
Key Entities Referenced
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: An integrated program encompassing six services, including Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).
Ministry of Women and Child Development: The primary ministry overseeing the implementation of the ECCE initiatives discussed.
National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy, 2013: A policy document that emphasizes the importance of ECCE.
National Education Policy (NEP), 2020: A broader education policy that also stresses the need for stimulation in early childhood.
Aanganwadi Centers: Centers where early childhood education is provided, and often co-located with Government Primary Schools.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Early Childhood Care and Education is one of the
six services provided in an integrated manner
under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan
2.0
ECCE is an indispensable foundation for lifelong
development and learning, and has lasting impact on early
childhood development
Posted On: 06 FEB 2026 3:43PM by PIB Delhi
The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is one of the six services provided in an integrated
manner under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Poshan 2.0).
National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy, 2013 emphasises the need to accord
priority attention to ECCE as it is an indispensable foundation for lifelong development and learning, and
has lasting impact on early childhood development. It recognises ECCE as most cost-effective way to
break the intergenerational cycle of multiple disadvantages and remove inequity, leading to long term
social and economic benefits. National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 also stresses the need for
appropriate stimulation in the early years of a child’s growth, recognizing that adequate care is necessary
to build a strong foundation for life.
In line with NEP, 2020 focus, Government of India launched in October 2022, the National Curricular
Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) providing a structure for the syllabus, Training of Teachers,
Learning Teaching Material (LTM), etc. It is the first ever integrated Curriculum Framework for children
between ages 3-8 in India.
Key initiatives taken by the Ministry, for strengthening ECCE in the country for ensuring holistic
development of children up to the age of 6 years, are mentioned as under:
i. Navchetana, which is a National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for children up to 3
years of age, was launched in March 2024. It aims to fill the conceptual and practical gaps in the
understanding and implementing care and stimulation of child’s growth. The framework empowers
caregiver and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for holistic early stimulation of children through
responsive caregiving.
ii. Aadharshila, which is a National Curriculum for ECCE for children of age 3 to 6 years, was
launched in March 2024 to ensure holistic development across physical, cognitive, social and
emotional domains. Aadharshila improves the quality of early childhood education transacted at the
Anganwadi Centre by prioritizing competency-based lesson plans and activities, covering all
learning domains.
iii. Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative was launched on 10th May, 2023 for upgrading skills of all
Anganwadi workers to strengthen their capacity to provide ECCE and nutrition service to childrenbelow six years of age, including divyang children. In the first round of training programme, 41,645
State Level Master Trainers (SLMTs) and 10,05,756 AWWs have been trained as on 3rd February
2026.
iv. Nutrition Support through Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) is provided for Pregnant
Women and Lactating Mothers (PWLM) and children (6 months–6 years).
v. Annual provision of Rs. 3,000 per Anganwadi Centre have been made for Pre-School Education
(PSE) Kits comprising culturally relevant and low/no-cost toys.
vi. Daily learning prompts through Poshan Tracker, including over 249 videos, 190 voice notes and
1000+ activity PDFs for children aged 3–6 years, are digitally provided to AWWs.
vii. For children aged 0–3 years, 14 videos comprising 140 activities have been developed to support
structured home visits and caregiver engagement.
viii. 'Vidyarambh' ECCE Certificate for smooth transition from Anganwadi to Grade I has been
introduced.
ix. ECCE Days are being celebrated at Anganwadis every month to stimulate parental engagement and
encourage community participation.
Ministry has strengthened convergence with the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL),
Ministry of Education. Guidelines for Co-locating Anganwadi Centers within Government Primary
Schools were released on 3rd September 2025. Presently, about 2.9 lakh Anganwadi Centers are co-located
within Government schools across the country.
DoSEL also supports creation of infrastructure and basic facilities for pre-primary students in Government
Schools, under the Centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha Scheme in which funds are provided to States /
UTs for child friendly furniture, BaLA (Building as Learning Aids) features, and outdoor play activities.
Funds are also provisioned for items like teachers’ capacity building, Teaching Learning Material (TLM)
student wise etc.
The provision for creation of Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) for 3-6 years
children has been enabled on the Poshan Tracker (mobile based application). Similarly, provision for
creation of Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID for children aged 0–6 years has also been
enabled on the Poshan Tracker.
Under Home Based New-born Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care of Young Children (HBYC) program,
ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) performs structured home visits in the community to improve
the child rearing practices focused on promotion of health, nutrition and early childhood development.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Annpurna
Devi in Lok Sabha in reply to a question today.
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SS
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