Parliament Question: Empowerment of Women and Welfare of Children

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4674 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AND WELFARE OF CHILDREN 4674. SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of malnutrition, lack of anganwadi infrastructure and safety concerns for women and children in Western Uttar Pradesh; (b) if so, the details of steps taken under ICDS and other schemes to improve nutrition, childcare and women safety in the said region; (c) whether similar challenges persist in other States of the country; and (d) if so, the details of national initiatives undertaken to strengthen women empowerment and child welfare in the country? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (d) Various schemes implemented by the Ministry of Women & Child Development for the nutrition, empowerment, welfare and safety of women and children all over the country, including in Western Uttar Pradesh, have been reviewed and clubbed into three Umbrella Missions, viz. (1) Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 for improving nutrition & health indicators (2) Mission Shakti, for safety, protection and empowerment of women; and (3) Mission Vatsalya, for protection, care and welfare of children in difficult circumstances. Details of the schemes are as under: (i) Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0): In the 15th Finance Commission, components of nutritional support for children below the age of 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers, Adolescent Girls (14 – 18 years); Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years]; Anganwadi infrastructure including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls have been reorganised under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0).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 Non-Formal 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. Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. Central Government is responsible for the overall planning and policy under the scheme whereas its day-to-day implementation falls under the ambit of State Government or UT administration. The following 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. • 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 Commission Grants 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. • 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. Further, Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) was revised from 01.04.2022 onwards and was subsumed under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. The Scheme aims at providing nutritional support to Adolescent Girls (AGs) [14-18 years] for improving their health and nutritional status under the nutrition component and providing them IFA supplementation, Health check-up and Referral Service, Nutrition & Health Education and Skilling etc. under non-nutrition component of the Scheme. The targeted beneficiaries under the Scheme are AGs in the age group of 14 to 18 years in Aspirational Districts and all North Eastern States. (ii) Mission Shakti: The ‘Mission Shakti’ aims at strengthening interventions for women safety, security and empowerment. It seeks to focus on proposing strategies for improving convergence across Ministries/ Departments and at different levels of governance. Mission Shakti comprises of two sub-schemes ‘Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’ for safety and security of women and empowerment of women respectively.The “Sambal” sub-scheme is for safety and security of women. It has the components of One Stop Centres (OSCs), Women Helpline (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and Nari Adalat. • One Stop Centres (OSCs)- One Stop Centre (OSC) provides integrated and immediate support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence and those in distress, both in private and public spaces all across the country. It provides services like medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance and psycho- social counselling to needy women. • Women Helpline (WHL)- Women Helpline (WHL-181) provides 24-hour toll-free telecommunication services to support women in both emergency and non-emergency situations. It offers assistance to women affected by violence and provides information about government schemes and services all across the country. • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme was launched on 22nd January 2015 to help address Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of girls and women over a life cycle continuum. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme has transformed from policy initiative into national movement by mobilizing various stakeholders, including government agencies, media civil society and general public. • Nari Adalat- Nari Adalat scheme provides a platform for alternative grievance redressal for women at the gram panchayat level. The Adalats are mandated to help women in distress at the panchayat level in resolving smaller issues relating to domestic violence, and other gender-based violence by negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation with mutual consent for accessible justice. The “Samarthya” sub scheme is for empowerment of women. It has the components of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna and SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW). • Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)- The PMMVY is a Centrally Sponsored Maternity Benefit Scheme under which cash incentives of ₹5,000/- is provided directly to the Bank/Post Office account of the beneficiary in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode for first child. The eligible beneficiaries receive the remaining cash incentive, as per approved norms towards maternity benefit under Janani Suraksha Yojana after institutional delivery, so that on an average a woman gets ₹6,000/-. Cash incentive of ₹6,000/- is also provided under PMMVY to eligible beneficiaries for second child subject to the second child being a girl. • Shakti Sadan- Under the overarching ‘Mission Shakti’, erstwhile schemes of ‘Swadhar Greh’ for women in difficult circumstances and ‘Ujjawala Home’ for Prevention of Trafficking, have been merged w. e. f. 01.04.2022 and known as ‘Shakti Sadan Scheme’, which is an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home-for women in distressful situations including trafficked women. It aims at creating a safe and enabling environment for the women in such difficult situations, to enable them to overcome the adverse circumstances.• Sakhi Niwas- The Sakhi Niwas Scheme (Working Women Hostel) is a demand driven centrally sponsored scheme, under which funds are released directly to the States/UTs for implementation of the scheme and aims to promote availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women in urban, semi-urban and even rural areas where employment opportunity for women exist. • Palna- Palna Scheme is implemented with the aim of expanding the outreach of crèches to ensure that women everywhere have the opportunity to work and do not drop out from workforce because of care responsibilities. Palna aims to provide day-care crèche facilities to the children (06 months – 06 years). • SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW)- The SANKALP: HEW (Hub for Empowerment of Women) which functions as a Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) for all components of Mission Shakti. It serves as a single window system to bridge the information and knowledge gap regarding schemes and facilities available for women as well as guide them to avail the benefits and entitlements. (iii) Mission Vatsalya: Mission Vatsalya (erstwhile Child Protection Services Scheme (ICPS)) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) which is implemented through States/Union Territories (UTs) to deliver services for better outreach and protection for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) and Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) which include Institutional Care and Non-Institutional Care in a mission mode with the objective to: (i) Support and sustain Children in difficult circumstances (ii) Develop context-based solutions for holistic development of children from varied backgrounds (iii) Provide scope for green field projects for encouraging innovative solutions (iv) Cement convergent action by gap funding, if required. The scheme also provides for emergency outreach services (24x7) for children in difficult circumstances through Child Helpline (1098). *****