Executive Summary:
The Ministry of Women and Child Development addresses the implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme through Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. This initiative aims to combat malnutrition by integrating Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls. It focuses on nutrition support, early childhood care and education, and Anganwadi infrastructure. Data on beneficiaries as of July 2024 is provided in the annexure.
Key Points / Main Content:
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0:
* Integrates Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the 15th Finance Commission to address malnutrition.
* Operates through three primary verticals: Nutrition Support, Early Childhood Care and Education, and Anganwadi Infrastructure.
Nutrition Support:
* Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) provides nutrition to children (6 months to 6 years), pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls (14-18 years) in Aspirational Districts and the North Eastern Region (NER).
* Supplementary nutrition is provided 300 days a year through Anganwadi Centers.
* Focus on improving nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs.
* Poshan Tracker is used to leverage technology and improve governance.
* SMS alerts are sent to beneficiaries upon delivery of Take Home Ration (THR).
* Facial Recognition System (FRS) is mandatory for availing THR.
* Toll-free Poshan Helpline 14408 is available for grievance redressal.
Quality and Monitoring:
* Streamlined guidelines issued on quality assurance, duty holder responsibilities, procurement procedures, AYUSH integration, and data management through Poshan Tracker.
* Nutritional status, food quality standards, and supply chain transparency are monitored.
* Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan to educate people on nutritional aspects
* Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children (CMAM Protocol) provides steps for identifying and managing malnourished children at Anganwadi level.
Community Mobilization and Awareness:
* Community Based Events (CBEs), Poshan Maah, and Poshan Pakhwada are conducted to educate people on nutrition.
* CBEs celebrate milestones in the lives of pregnant women and children, disseminating information on complementary feeding and diet diversity.
* Events include Annaprasan Diwas and Suposan Diwas, focusing on orienting husbands, celebrating coming of age and public health messages.
Data Annexure:
* State/UT-wise details of children and women benefiting under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 are provided in the annexure, as per Poshan Tracker data as of July 2024.
Impact Analysis:
Beneficiaries (Children, Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, Adolescent Girls):
* Impact: Access to improved nutrition and early childhood care services through Anganwadi Centers.
* Action Required: Avail services at Anganwadi Centers and utilize the Poshan Helpline for any grievances.
Anganwadi Workers and Staff:
* Impact: Implementation of streamlined guidelines and use of technology (Poshan Tracker) for improved service delivery and monitoring.
* Action Required: Adhere to the new guidelines, utilize the Poshan Tracker for data management, and ensure proper identification and management of malnourished children.
State and District Level Administrators:
* Impact: Monitoring nutritional status, food quality standards, and supply chain transparency at the state, district, and village levels.
* Action Required: Ensure effective implementation of the scheme, monitor service delivery, and address any issues related to delays or shortages.
Key Entities Referenced
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): A Government of India scheme aimed at the holistic development of children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: An umbrella mission encompassing various components like Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls to address malnutrition.
Poshan Abhiyaan: A nutrition program subsumed under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, focused on improving nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
Scheme for Adolescent Girls: A scheme subsumed under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, targeting the nutritional needs of adolescent girls.
Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP): A component of Mission Poshan 2.0 providing nutrition support to children (6 months to 6 years), pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
Poshan Tracker: An ICT enabled platform used to improve governance and real-time supervision and management of services under Mission Poshan 2.0.
Take Home Ration (THR): Supplementary nutrition provided to beneficiaries, tracked via SMS alerts and Facial Recognition System (FRS) for delivery confirmation.
Andhra Pradesh: One of the states for which data on beneficiaries under the ICDS scheme is provided.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 3400
TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2025
IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
3400. DR. GUMMA THANUJA RANI
Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is being
effectively implemented in rural areas;
(b) if so, the number of children and women benefiting under the ICDS scheme during
the last year, State-wise including Andhra Pradesh;
(c) whether there have been any issues related to the delivery of services under ICDS,
such as delays/shortages; and
(d) if so, the details thereof, along with the actions taken to address these issues and
improve service delivery?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)
(a) to (d) Under the 15th Finance Commission to address the challenge of malnutrition, various
components like Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls have
been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission
Poshan 2.0) into the three primary verticals as given below:
Nutrition Support for POSHAN through Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP)
for children of the age group of 6 months to 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers
(PWLM); and for Adolescent Girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years in Aspirational
Districts and North Eastern Region (NER);
Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years] and early childhood care & stimulation
for (0-3 years);
Anganwadi Infrastructure including modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi;Under Mission Poshan 2.0, Supplementary nutrition is provided to beneficiaries 300 days in a
year through a network of Anganwadi Centers located across the country for bridging the gap
between the actual intake and the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI).
Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen
delivery and leverage technology under Poshan Tracker to improve governance. As part of
leveraging technology, the 'Poshan Tracker' is a robust ICT enabled platform to improve
governance in regard to real time supervision and management of services. Further, to ensure
last mile tracking of service delivery, SMS alerts to beneficiaries have been introduced on
delivery of Take Home Ration (THR). Further, Facial Recognition System (FRS) has been
made mandatory for availing the benefit of THR. Toll-free Poshan Helpline (14408) has also
been introduced for grievance redressal under this scheme.
Streamlining Guidelines have been issued by MWCD on Quality Assurance, Roles and
Responsibilities of Duty Holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts
and Data Management and Monitoring through Poshan Tracker for transparency, efficiency
and accountability in delivery of Supplementary Nutrition. Nutritional Status and Quality
Standards of food items under Supplementary Nutrition, Transparency are being monitored in
Supply Chain Management at State, District and Village Level.
A ‘Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children - CMAM Protocol’ has been launched
providing detailed steps for identification and management of malnourished children at the
Anganwadi level, including decision-making for referral, nutritional management and follow-
up care.
Under Mission Poshan 2.0, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization
and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan to educate people on nutritional aspects. IEC
material in the form of videos, pamphlets, flyers etc., in regional languages have also been
developed around critical themes. Social & Behavioural Changes have been inculcated by
conducting Community Based Events, Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada in convergence
with various Ministries/ Departments and other stakeholders.
Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutrition
practices. CBEs help to celebrate critical milestones in the life of pregnant women and children
below two years of age and to disseminate critical information on, inter alia, right time to ensure
appropriate complementary feeding with diet diversity. Community based events such as
Annaprasan Diwas, Suposan Diwas (specifically focused on orienting husbands), Celebrating
coming of age - getting ready for pre-school at AWC, Messages related to public health for
improvement of nutrition and to reduce illness, Anaemia WASH etc. are celebrated/ discussed.
State/UT wise details of children and women benefitting under Mission Saksham Anganwadi
and Poshan 2.0 as per Poshan Tracker data as on July, 2024 is placed at Annexure.
*****Annexure
Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question
No.3400 to be answered on 08.08.2025 regarding “Implementation of Integrated Child
Development Services”
Details of women and children as per Poshan Tracker data as on July, 2024:
S.No State/UTs Children(0- Total Women (Pregnant Women+ Lactating
6y) Mothers)
1 Assam 2846298 209440
2 Uttar Pradesh 19566561 2701815
3 Rajasthan 3756261 612453
4 Delhi 564242 118851
5 Chhattisgarh 2252756 299357
6 Andhra Pradesh 2679400 471231
7 Uttarakhand 656401 117616
8 Goa 49819 7767
9 Punjab 1418609 182196
10 Mizoram 107944 9770
11 UT-Chandigarh 37919 6608
12 Bihar 9699352 1030341
13 Jharkhand 2886628 285892
14 Odisha 3467165 494586
15 Puducherry 29525 6432
16 Telangana 1798120 194446
17 Tripura 301889 28262
18 Meghalaya 370956 14751
19 Haryana 1754547 231207
20 West Bengal 7753936 975180
21 Arunachal Pradesh 80987 4441
22 Nagaland 107685 3278
23 Himachal Pradesh 491275 71059
24 Tamil Nadu 3555264 511769
25 Madhya Pradesh 6668072 835061
26 J&K 733200 83358
27 Andaman & Nicobar 10873 1422
Islands
28 Lakshadweep 3655 794
29 Gujarat 3118233 413929
30 Maharashtra 6181015 626546
31 Manipur 264793 18588
32 Ladakh 16667 1594
33 Karnataka 3691084 486109
34 Kerala 1932489 222304
35 Sikkim 30773 2847
36 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 33748 5899
- Daman & Diu
Total 8,89,18,141 1,12,87,199
*****