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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4795
TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026
PREVALENCE OF MALNUTRITION AND ANAEMIA IN ANDHRA PRADESH
4795. DR C M RAMESH:
Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has conducted any study to assess the prevalence of
malnutrition and anaemia among women and children in Andhra Pradesh, particularly
in Anakapalli district, if so, the details thereof;
(b) the number of children (0-5 years) suffering from stunting, wasting, underweight and
anaemia and women (including pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls)
suffering from anaemia in the said State during the last three years, district-wise;
(c) the details of funds allocated, released and utilised under ICDS/Anganwadi Services
and POSHAN Abhiyaan in the said State, particularly for the said district, during the
last three years;
(d) whether there are vacancies of Anganwadi Workers, Supervisors and nutrition supply
gaps in the said district, if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken to fill such
vacancies and strengthen nutrition delivery; and
(e) the measures taken to reduce anaemia among adolescent girls and pregnant women in
the said district?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)
(a) to (d): Under the Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Supplementary Nutrition
is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and
Adolescent Girls in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the
National Food Security Act, 2013, with special provisions for undernourished children.
For monitoring and tracking of all activities in the AWCs, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and
beneficiaries on defined indicators, the Ministry has launched ‘Poshan Tracker’ digital
application. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services. The
application has enabled the Ministry and States & UTs to review the implementation of the
scheme on various parameters including health and nutrition status of the children and to make
course corrections. The district wise information on malnutrition among children (0-5 years)
in the Andhra Pradesh is available on the Poshan Tracker public dashboard at the given link:
https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.Primarily, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare keeps record of data of Children and
women (including pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls) suffering from
anaemia. The per National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data of the number of children (0-
5 years) and women (including pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls) suffering
from anemia in Andhra Pradesh and district-wise is placed in the Annexure.
Details of funds released under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to the State of
Andhra Pradesh and the district of Anakapalli during the last three years are as below:
(Rupees in crores)
2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund
released Utilised released Utilised released Utilised
Andhra -
827.79 721.45 705.68 734.52 645.73
Pradesh
Anakapalli 0.88 0.50 0.98 1.03 1.27 0.87
Details of vacancies of Anganwadi Workers and Supervisors in the Anakapalli district of
Andhra Pradesh are as below:
S. No Category Sanctioned Filled Vacant
1 Anganwadi Workers 1841 1818 23
2 Supervisors Gr-1 44 36 8
3
Supervisors Gr-2 32 16 (1 Contract employee) 16
The matter regarding filling up of vacant posts at various levels is regularly taken up by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development with the States and UTs through sustained
engagements and video conferences to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the
beneficiaries. The Government of Andhra Pradesh is actively working to fill the vacant
positions.
A survey on Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by the World Bank in 2021 in 11 priority States
(including Andhra Pradesh) which bore the highest burden of stunting among children and
anemia among women. The survey showed positive results, both in the delivery of services and
nutrition practices including consumption of iron and folic acid supplements (IFA) by 56-67%
of beneficiaries for at least 100 days.
Further, a third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by
NITI Aayog in 2020 and also in 2025 for Mission Poshan 2.0. These assessments have 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
during the period 2019–20 to 2023–24 in 12 selected States (including Andhra Pradesh) and
one UT of Chandigarh. 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. Further, on the micronutrient front, the
prevalence of anaemia among children aged 6–59 months declined by 8.5 percentage points,
and among pregnant women by 1.8 percentage points, reflecting the potential impact of iron-folic acid supplementation, fortified foods, and improved outreach under SNP and related
interventions. States such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have made considerable progress
in adopting digital tools for THR distribution, attendance monitoring, and supervisory
oversight, thereby enhancing fund utilization and ensuring timely service delivery
(e): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implements Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy
to reduce prevalence of anemia among six beneficiaries age groups - children (6-59 months),
children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and women of
reproductive age group (15-49 years) in a life cycle approach through implementation of six
interventions via robust institutional mechanism. These six interventions include Prophylactic
iron and Folic Acid supplementation (IFA Syrup provided biweekly to Children 6-59 months,
IFA Pink tablets provided to Children 5-9 years, IFA Blue tablets provided to Adolescent 10-
19 years, IFA Red tablets provided weekly to Women of Reproductive age group and IFA Red
tablets daily for 180 days provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers), Deworming
(Pregnant women provided albendazole tablet in second trimester and all children provided
albendazole tablets during National Deworming Day), intensified Behavioural Change
Communication campaign, Testing for anemia and treatment as per anemia management
protocols, Mandatory provision of IFA fortified food in public health programmes and
addressing non nutritional causes of anemia especially malaria, fluorosis and
hemoglobinopathies.
*****Annexure
DISTRICT-WISE DATA ON ANEMIA IN THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, AS
PER NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY-5 (2019-2021)
Name of the Children age 6-59 Pregnant Women All women All women age
District months who are who are anaemic age 15-49 years 15- 19 years who
anaemic (<11.0 g/dl) (<11.0 g/dl) (%) who are are anaemic (%)
(%) anaemic (%)
Srikakulam 59.6 - 62.6 59.2
Vizianagaram 66.7 - 64.0 73.9
Visakhapatnam 72.6 - 58.0 58.9
East Godavari 66.8 - 63.0 65.2
West Godavari 62.3 - 63.0 66.8
Krishna 65.7 - 60.3 59.0
Guntur 59.3 51.9 59.5 54.6
Prakasam 62.6 - 60.4 64.8
Sri Potti
Sriramulu 67.5 - 59.4 68.6
Nellore
Y.S.R. 60.6 57.6 56.1 60.2
Kumool 70.8 67.8 58.6 61.1
Anantapur 55.8 54.9 50.5 50.0
Chittoor 54.9 52.7 51.8 43.9
*****