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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4821
TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026
IMPLEMENTATION OF POSHAN ABHIYAAN 2.0 AND MISSION SHAKTI
4821. SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:
Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware of the failure in the ground-level implementation of
Poshan Abhiyaan 2.0 and Mission Shakti in Uttar Pradesh, particularly with regard to the
low remuneration of Anganwadi Workers and the lack of basic facilities;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether a significant portion (approximately 20-30%) of the budget allocated under the
Nirbhaya Fund and Mission Vatsalya remains unutilized due to administrative delays,
thereby affecting the timely provision of assistance to victimized women and orphaned
children in the said State;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether in view of the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR: 37 per 1,000 live births) and the serious
condition of malnutrition in the said State, the Government proposes to establish a concrete
accountability mechanism rather than relying solely on publicity measures; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)
(a) & (b) For effective implementation and efficient monitoring, various schemes implemented by
the Ministry of Women & Child Development for women and child welfare all over the country
including in 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, forprotection, 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): Under this mission, Anganwadi
Services Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls have been reorganized
into 3 primary sub-verticals: (i) Nutrition Support for Children, Pregnant Women & Lactating
Mothers and for Adolescent Girls (ii) Early Childhood Care and Education and (iii) Anganwadi
Infrastructure including upgraded Saksham Anganwadis.
Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) are honorary functionaries drawn
from the local community who voluntarily contribute to child care and development activities and
are paid a monthly honorarium. This honorarium is revised from time to time.
With effect from 1st October, 2018, the Government of India has enhanced the honorarium of
AWWs at Anganwadi Centres from ₹3,000/- to ₹4,500/- per month and that of AWHs from
₹1,500/- to ₹2,250/- per month, as per the approved cost-sharing ratio between the Centre and
States/UTs. In addition, States/UTs provide supplementary financial incentives and top-ups from
their own resources, which vary across States/ UTs.
Further, a performance-linked incentive of ₹500/- per month is provided to AWWs and ₹250/- per
month to AWHs to encourage better service delivery.
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 15thFinance 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 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.
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.
(ii) Mission Shakti: Mission Shakti aims at strengthening interventions for women safety,
security and empowerment. Mission Shakti comprises of two verticals ‘Sambal’ for safety and
security of women and ‘Samarthya’ for empowerment of women including rural and economically
weaker regions of the country. The ‘Sambal’ has components of One Stop Centre (OSC), Women
Helpline(WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and Nari Adalat (Nari Adalat).• One Stop Centre (OSC) -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. rural and economically weaker regions of the country
including the State of Uttar Pradesh. As on date, 96 OSCs are operational in Uttar Pradesh,
which has assisted over 3,04,109 women in the State.
• Women Helpline- 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 Women Helpline is operational in 35 States/
Union Territories and also integrated with Emergency Response Support System ERSS-
112. State Government of West Bengal is not implementing Women Helpline. Till 28th
February 2026, WHLs have assisted over 9.58 lakh women in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
• 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. The scheme is implemented in all the districts of the country including the
State of Uttar Pradesh. The State of West Bengal is not implementing the scheme.
• 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. Presently, Nari Adalat is being run on pilot basis in 50 Gram
Panchayats in the State of Assam and UT of Jammu & Kashmir and 10 Gram Panchayats
in the State of Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Mizoram. In FY 2025-26, 10 Gram Panchayats
in 13 States and 5 Gram Panchayats of 2 UTs has also been approved for operationalization
of Nari Adalat and will be operationalized shortly.
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 provideddirectly 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.
(c) & (d) The Ministry is implementing a centrally sponsored scheme namely "Mission
Vatsalya" under which support is provided to State and UT Governments to deliver various
services for children in difficult circumstances. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established
under the scheme support, inter-alia, age- appropriate education, access to vocational training,
recreation, health care, counselling etc. and covers both rural and urban children. Under Non-
Institutional Care Services, support is provided to the children through Sponsorship, Foster
Care, Adoption and After Care. The implementation of the scheme lies with respective States
and UT Governments.
The details of BE-RE and funds released under Mission Vatsalya during last two financial years
is as under:S. Financial Budget Estimate Revised Estimate Actual
No. Year (BE) (RE) Expenditure
1 2024-25 1472.17 1423.15 1405.53
2 2023-24 1472.17 1272.17 1390.80
The trends in funds released during previous two financial years, when compared to the BE–RE
of the scheme, do not indicate any significant underutilization of funds.
Nirbhaya Fund is a non-lapsable corpus for safety and security of women which lies with the
Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the Government of
India. The projects/ schemes under Nirbhaya Fund are demand driven and generally have a
staggered implementation schedule. Some of the appraised projects are directly implemented by
Central Ministries/ Departments. However, the majority of the projects are implemented through
State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations, in which Central Government
releases funds to States/ UTs after approval of Competent Financial Authority (CFA), as per
prescribed fund sharing pattern of respective States/ UTs. Implementation on the ground is done
by the Implementing Agencies (IAs) of States or UTs as per the approved timelines.
Under the Nirbhaya Fund, as on date, a total amount of Rs 8212.85 Crore has been allocated. The
cumulative amount released and utilized(as on date) from the Nirbhaya Fund is Rs. 6,766.18 crore,
which is nearly 82% of the total allocation
(e) & (f) To address the challenges of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyan and
Scheme for Adolescent girls (of 14–18 years in Aspirational Districts and North-Eastern region)
have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission
Poshan 2.0). It is a Centrally Sponsored mission, where the responsibility for implementation of
various activities lies with the States and UTs. The Mission is being implemented in all States and
UTs in the country including the State of Uttar Pradesh.
Regarding accountability mechanisms, Poshan Tracker, an ICT tool, has been rolled out for
monitoring and tracking of all Anganwadi Centers, AWWs and beneficiaries on defined indicators
in all States and UTs. Technology under Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic
identification of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children. It has facilitated near
real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as opening of AWCs, daily attendance of
children, ECE activities, Growth Monitoring of children, Provision of Hot Cooked Meal
(HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR-not raw ration), Growth Measurement etc. The details are
available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in
Further, 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). 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.
In 2021, the World Bank conducted a survey on Poshan Abhiyaan in 11 priority states (including
Uttar Pradesh) with the highest rates of anemia and stunting. The aim of this survey was to assess
the program’s delivery of nutrition services. The findings demonstrated that the services delivered
through the Poshan Abhiyaan — the receipt of relevant messages, home visits by the Anganwadi
Worker, and attendance at community-based events — were associated with improved nutrition
behaviours. The survey also found that the program's nutrition messages reached more than 80%
of women, and that 81% of women practiced exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.
Further, third-party evaluation and impact assessments of Poshan Abhiyan were conducted by
NITI Aayog in 2020 and again in 2025 & they have found its relevance to be satisfactory for
tackling malnutrition in the country.
Niti Aayog has got conducted outcome-based evaluation of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and
Poshan 2.0 in 2025. Evidence from institutional assessments and household surveys indicated that
digitalization has had a multi-dimensional impact on nutrition monitoring, Early Childhood Care
and Education (ECCE), beneficiary authentication, and service delivery efficiency. The Report
also highlighted Poshan Tracker as a significant shift from manual, paper-based systems to a
technology-enabled governance framework under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme
(SNP).
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