Parliament Question: Nutrition services under Anganwadi/ICDS in Punjab

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4306 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 NUTRITION SERVICES UNDER ANGANWADI/ICDS IN PUNJAB

4306. SHRI DR. VIKRAMJIT SINGH SAHNEY:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to State:

(a) whether Government is aware of reports highlighting disruptions in nutrition delivery and digital monitoring under Poshan Abhiyaan/Integrated child Development service

(ICDS) in Punjab due to issues faced by Anganwadi workers and infrastructure gaps;

(b) whether concerns have been raised regarding outsourcing and quality of Take-Home Ration (THR) supply under ICDS in Punjab;

(c) details of steps taken by Government to ensure uninterrupted nutrition services, quality control of food supply, adequate digital infrastructure support to Anganwadi workers in Punjab; and

(d) whether Government proposes to undertake a third-party evaluation of lCDS/Poshan implementation in Punjab, particularly in districts with high malnutrition burden? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (d): To address the challenge of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan 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 scheme under Ministry of Women and Child Development where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. Under this Mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls (14-18 years;

of Aspirational Districts and North Eastern States) in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013. There have been no disruptions in supply under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) in Punjab State.

The Ministry has launched ‘Poshan Tracker’ digital application for monitoring and tracking of all activities in the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), Anganwadi Workers (AWW) and beneficiaries on defined indicators. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services which are being delivered at AWCs across the country including Punjab.The Ministry has issued ‘Streamlining Guidelines 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’ to all States and UTs in 2021.

District Nutrition Committees under the chairpersonship of District Magistrate/Collector with certified nutrition experts as members have been constituted to review the progress every month.

As per Government of Punjab, following steps have been undertaken for ensuring nutrition services, quality control of food supply and provide adequate digital infrastructure support to

Anganwadi Workers in Punjab: • High-quality food items (pre-mix, precooked, ready to eat) for Anganwadi Centres

(AWCs) are supplied by Markfed, Punjab. • Punjab State Food Commission also does checkings and certifies ration for quality. • District Programme Officers (DPOs), Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs), and Supervisors conduct checks at the district and sub district levels.

• Regular collection of samples at each Block by the concerned functionaries to ensure quality of the food items.

A third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and it has found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country. Niti Aayog has also got conducted outcome-based evaluation of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 in 2025. Evidence from institutional assessments and household surveys 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.

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