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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3507
TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026
ENHANCEMENT OF SALARY AND SOCIAL SECURITY FOR AWWS IN
KERALA
3507. SHRI M K RAGHAVAN:
Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has any plan to increase the salary, benefits and social security
of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) across the country, including Kerala, if so, the details
thereof; and
(b) whether the Government is considering the release of additional grant-in-aid to the State
of Kerala to meet the demands of Anganwadi workers and for their welfare and
development, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)
(a) to (b) Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme.
Central Government is responsible for policy and planning and the State Governments/UT
Administrations are responsible for day-to-day program implementation.
Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) are honorary workers drawn
from the local community who voluntarily come forward to render their services in the area of
child care and development to help the local community for which they are paid honorarium.
This honorarium is increased from time to time. From 1st October, 2018, Government of India
has enhanced the honorarium of AWWs at Anganwadi centres (AWCs) from Rs.3,000/- to
Rs.4,500/- per month and AWHs from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.2,250/- per month as per the defined
cost sharing ratio between the Centre and States and UTs. In addition, States and UTs are also
paying additional monetary incentives and top ups to these functionaries from their own
resources which vary from State to State. Details of additional top ups provided by States and
UTs are at Annexure.
Besides, performance linked incentive of Rs.500/- per month is provided to AWWs and
Rs.250/- per month to AWHs.
Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, AWWs have been technologically
empowered with the provision of smartphones for efficient monitoring and delivery of services.
Poshan Tracker which is a mobile phone application that has digitized physical registers usedby Anganwadi workers. This improves the quality of their work while simultaneously enabling
them for real-time monitoring of all activities going on in the Anganwadis.
To incentivize and encourage the AWWs and AWHs, various initiatives have been undertaken
including the following:
(i) Promotion: Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, promotional opportunities
for AWWs and AWHs have been enhanced. 50% posts of AWWs are to be filled by AWHs
with 5 years of experience and 50% posts of Supervisors are to be filled by promotion of
AWWs with 5 years of experience subject to fulfilment of other criteria.
(ii) Leave: 20 days’ annual leave and paid maternity absence of 180 days and paid absence on
abortion/ miscarriage once for 45 days.
(iii) State Governments and UT Administrations have been requested to encourage eligible
AWWs and AWHs to get themselves enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan
(PM-SYM) Pension Scheme, which is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme for the
unorganized sector in the country to ensure old age protection.
(iv) Social Security Insurance Schemes: Insurance benefits have been provided to AWWs and
AWHs under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) for life cover worth Rs.2.00
lakh (covers life risk, death due to any reason) in the age group of 18 to 50 years and under
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for accidental cover of Rs.2.00 Lakh (accidental death
and permanent full disability) /Rs.1.00 Lakh (partial but permanent disability) in the age group
of 18-59 years.
(v) Retirement date: States and UTs have been requested to adopt a uniform retirement date
i.e 30th April of each year with respect to AWWs and AWHs to ensure proper human resource
planning.
(vi) Annual Healthcare coverage of Rs. 5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to all AWWs and AWHs in pursuance to budget announcement
in FY 2024-25.
********Annexure
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (B) OF LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3507 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026
REGARDING “ENHANCEMENT OF SALARY AND SOCIAL SECURITY FOR
AWWS IN KERALA”
DETAILS OF ADDITIONAL TOP UPS AS PROVIDED BY STATES AND UTS:
Sr. State Additional top ups paid to Additional top ups paid to
No. AWWs (per month) AWHs (per month)
1 Andhra Pradesh 7,000 4,750
2 Bihar 2,500 1,750
3 Chhattisgarh 5,500 2,750
4 Gujarat 5,500 3,250
5 Haryana 10,250 5,650
6 Himachal Pradesh 5,500 3,250
7 Jammu & Kashmir 600 300
8 Jharkhand 5,000 2,500
9 Karnataka 7,000 4,500
10 Kerala 8,500 6,750
11 Madhya Pradesh 8,500 4,250
12 Maharashtra 8,500 5,250
13 Odisha 5,500 2,750
14 Punjab 5,500-6,500 2,750-3,250
15 Rajasthan 5,510 3,674
16 Tamil Nadu 3,200 1,850
17 Telangana 9,150 5,550
18 Uttar Pradesh 1,500 750
19 Uttarakhand 4,800 3,000
20 West Bengal 4,500 4,550
21 Arunachal Pradesh 3,000 3,000
22 Assam 2,000 1,000
23 Manipur 1,000 600
24 Meghalaya 3,000 1,000
25 Mizoram 450 500
26 Nagaland Nil Nil
27 Sikkim 7,000 4,500
28 Tripura 3,500-5,946 2,750-4218
29 Andaman & Nicobar 7,500 5,750
30 Goa 5,500 -13,500 3,750 - 6,750
31 Puducherry 1,950 2,125
32 Chandigarh 3,600 1,800
33 Ladakh 1,300 650
34 Delhi 6,720 3,360
35 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and
3,500 1,750
Daman & Diu
36 Lakshadweep 5,500 4,750