Parliament Question: Malnutrition in Andhra Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3297 ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026 MALNUTRITION IN ANDHRA PRADESH 3297. SHRI P V MIDHUN REDDY: DR. GUMMA THANUJA RANI: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has conducted any assessment regarding malnutrition and anaemia among women and children in Andhra Pradesh, district-wise, particularly in tribal and rural districts, if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has reviewed utilisation gaps under Mission Saksham Anganwadi, if so, the details thereof; and (c) if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (c): A third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and it found the relevance of Poshan Abhiyaan to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country. In 2021, the World Bank conducted a survey under Poshan Abhiyaan across 11 States including Andhra Pradesh. The States were selected based on high prevalence of stunting among children and anaemia among women. The findings of the survey demonstrated improved nutrition behaviors with respect to the services delivered through the Poshan Abhiyaan. 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. An outcome-based evaluation study of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) was conducted again by Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog in 2025 in 12 States (including Andhra Pradesh) and one Union Territory. Evidence indicated that in its current form, Mission Poshan 2.0 represents the Government’s latest effort to holistically combat malnutrition and promote child development,by building on past programs with a converged and strengthened approach. High uptake and utilisation of Anganwadi services, such as supplementary nutrition, growth monitoring, and counselling, serves as a strong indicator that Poshan Abhiyaan has been fruitful in driving awareness and encouraging behavioural change among beneficiaries. Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) under Mission Poshan 2.0, has rolled out ‘Poshan Tracker’ digital application as an ICT based governance tool for monitoring and reviewing of services being provided to beneficiaries. The application has enabled the Ministry as well as States & UTs to review the implementation of the scheme on various parameters including health and nutrition status of the women and children and to make course corrections. For last mile tracking of Service Delivery, Facial Recognition System (FRS) in Poshan Tracker Application has been introduced for distribution of Take-Home Ration and to ensure that benefit is given only to the intended beneficiary registered in the application. Such Aadhaar based tracking has enabled proper identification of beneficiaries, prevention of leakages and eliminating ghost entries. *****