Parliament Question: Anganwadi Services in Uttar Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4624 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 ANGANWADI SERVICES IN UTTAR PRADESH 4624. SHRI RAJEEV RAI: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) the number of Anganwadi centres operational in Mau district, including Ghosi Parliamentary Constituency, under Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 (earlier ICDS) during 2024–26; (b) the number of beneficiaries receiving supplementary nutrition and pre-school education in the district during the said period; (c) the total amount of funds allocated and released to the State Government of Uttar Pradesh under the scheme and utilized in said district; (d) whether any assessment has been undertaken regarding nutrition outcomes in the said district; and (e) the steps taken to strengthen nutrition monitoring and service delivery mechanisms in Ghosi Parliamentary Constituency? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) and (b): The district wise number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) functioning in the State of Uttar Pradesh under Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 and number of beneficiaries registered therein during the period 2024-26 are available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics. (c): Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, during FY 2025-26, an amount of Rs.1,79,387.84 Lakh has been released to the State of Uttar Pradesh for implementation of various components of the scheme. Further, a mother sanction of Rs. 90,505.32 Lakh has been issued to the State of Uttar Pradesh during FY 2025-26 under SNA SPARSH. (d) and (e): 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 and underweight prevalence among children. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, opening of AWCs, daily attendance ofchildren, 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 behaviours 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 Take-Home 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. Third-party evaluations and impact assessments of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 were conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and again in 2025 and they have found relevance of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country. 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. Additionally, the Ministry also monitors the implementation of scheme through sustained engagements and video conferences with the States and UTs so as to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the beneficiaries. *****