Parliament Question: Basic Facilities at AWCs in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 5737 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026 BASIC FACILITIES AT AWCS IN MAHARASHTRA 5737. SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL: PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) the number of Anganwadi Centres in the State of Maharashtra currently operating without functional toilets, safe drinking water or adequate infrastructure and the steps taken to address these gaps; (b) the status of data captured under the Poshan Tracker in tribal and nutritionally vulnerable districts of Maharashtra and the latest available figures on stunting, wasting and underweight children; (c) whether the Government has assessed the adequacy of Anganwadi infrastructure and service delivery in densely populated urban areas of Mumbai, particularly in informal settlements, if so, the details thereof; (d) the number of children in need of care and protection identified in Mumbai under Mission Vatsalya and utilisation of funds for their rehabilitation district-wise; and (e) the measures taken to strengthen nutrition services, Anganwadi infrastructure and child protection mechanisms in metropolitan areas such as Mumbai? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (e): Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, various steps have been undertaken to improve the infrastructure facilities at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). During 15th Finance Commission cycle, 50,000 Anganwadi Centres are being constructed @10000 AWCs per year in convergence with MGNREGS wherein Rs.8.00 Lakh is provided under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 Lakh under 15th Finance Commission (FC) (or any other untied funds) and Rs.2.00 Lakh by MWCD per AWC shared between Centre and States and UTs in the prescribed cost sharing ratio. Further, States and UTs have also been advised to continue to tap funds for construction of AWC buildings from various schemes such as Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Finance CommissionGrants to Panchayati Raj Institutions, Multi- Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) of Ministry of Minority Affairs, etc. Various other initiatives have been undertaken for construction of AWCs under PM JANMAN and Dharti Abha Janjatiye Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for the targeted development of Tribal population and VVP (Vibrant Village Programme) - Phase I, focusing on Northern border areas. Also, in order to improve the infrastructure facilities at AWCs various steps have been undertaken by the Ministry that, inter alia, include increasing the funding for drinking water facilities and toilets at Anganwadi Centres from Rs.10,000/- to Rs.17,000/- and Rs.12,000/- to Rs.36,000/- respectively. In convergence with Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education Guidelines for Co-locating AWCs within Government Primary Schools have been jointly launched on 3rd September, 2025 to strengthen ECCE and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) services. In places where physical co-location is not possible, AWCs are to be mapped with the nearest primary school. Under Mission Poshan 2.0, two lakh AWCs located in Government buildings @ 40,000 AWCs per year are being strengthened as Saksham Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition and for Early Childhood Care and Education in the 15th Finance Commission cycle. Saksham Anganwadis are provided with better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi centres with LED screens, water filtration system, Poshan Vatika, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) material and Building as Learning Aid (BALA) paintings. Further, AWCs have been technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones and growth monitoring devices for efficient monitoring and delivery of services. 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. Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. The implementation of the scheme falls under the ambit of State Governments and UTs administrations. The district wise number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) functioning in the State of Maharashtra under Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 indicating the number of availability of functional toilets, drinking water, infrastructure and growth monitoring indicators are available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.The Ministry of women and Child Development is the nodal Ministry for the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) which is the primary legislation for ensuring safety, security, dignity and well-being of children and is implemented by the States and UTs. The Act creates statutory structures at the State and District levels which include State Child Protection Society, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), District Child Protection Units. It also provides for establishment of Child Care Institutions (CCIs). Under the JJ Act, 2015 (Sections 27-30), the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) have been empowered to take decisions with regard to the children in need of care and protection, keeping their best interest in mind. They are also mandated to monitor the function of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs). This Ministry is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely ‘Mission Vatsalya’, through the State and UT Governments to deliver various services for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) as well as Children in Conflict with Law (CCL). These services include Institutional Care and Non-Institutional Care. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the Mission Vatsalya scheme support, inter-alia, age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc. Under non-institutional care, support is provided to the children through Sponsorship, Foster Care, Adoption and After Care. During Financial Year 2024-25, Rs. 144.97 Cr. were released to State Govt. of Maharashtra for implementation of Mission Vatsalya. Further, 3667 children were benefitted through CCIs and 32520 children were supported under non-institutional care of Mission Vatsalya. *****