Parliament Question: Primary Objective of WCD

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4811 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF WCD

4811. SHRI ARUN KUMAR SAGAR:

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

(a) the details of the primary objective of the Ministry of Women and Child Development

(WCD) in the welfare of women and children;

(b) the manner in which the Ministry implements the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign;

(c) the details of the role of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme;

(d) the details of the initiatives taken by the Ministry to prevent violence against women; and

(e) the manner in which the Ministry contribute to address malnutrition through the POSHAN Abhiyaan? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) The primary objective of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) is to empower women to live with dignity and contributing as equal partners in development in an environment free from violence and discrimination; and well nurtured children with full opportunities for growth and development in a safe and protective environment.

The Ministry works towards promoting social and economic empowerment of women through cross-cutting policies and programme, mainstreaming gender concerns, creating awareness about their rights and facilitating institutional and legislative support for enabling them realize their human rights and develop to their full potential. It focuses on ensuring development, care and protection of children through cross-cutting policies and programme, spreading awareness abouttheir rights and facilitating access to learning, nutrition, institutional and legislative support for enabling them to grow and develop to their full potential.

(b) 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. The State of West Bengal is not implementing the scheme.

As per the Mission Shakti guidelines, the scheme is Centrally Sponsored and the Central Government provides 100% financial assistance to States/ UTs. The overall implementation of this scheme lies with the State Governments and UT Administrations.

(c) Mission under Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0, 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.

Under the Scheme following six services are provided through the platform of Anganwadi Centres to the eligible beneficiaries viz. children up to the age of 6 years, pregnant women & lactating mothers and adolescent girls (14-18 years in aspirational districts of all States and all districts of North Eastern States):

i. Supplementary Nutrition (SNP) ii. Pre-school Non-formal Education, iii. Nutrition & Health Education, iv. Immunization, v. Health Check-up, and vi. Referral Services Three of the six services, viz., Immunization, Health check-up and Referral Services are related to health and are provided through NHM & Public Health Infrastructure

(d) Mission Shakti aims at strengthening interventions for women safety, security and empowerment. The objective of the Mission Shakti is to provide to all women and girls including differently abled, socially, and economically marginalized and vulnerable groups, in need of care and protection, with short term and long-term services and information for their holisticdevelopment 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). The ‘Samarthya’ has components of Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Padhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Palna and SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (SNKALP: HEW).

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. As on date, 926 OSCs are operational in the country which have assisted over 13.37 lakh women in the country.

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. The State of West Bengal is not implementing the scheme.

(e) Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is the ongoing scheme under Ministry of Women and Child Development to strengthen nutrition and address the challenge of malnutrition in the country.

To address the challenges 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 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.

Under this Mission, 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. These norms have been revised in January 2023. The old norms were largely calorie-specific; however, the revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity that provides for quality protein, healthy fats and micronutrients (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Dietary Folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin-B6 and Vitamin B-

12).Extra Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Severely Acutely Malnourished (SAM) children as per National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).Ministry vide notification dated 12th September 2022 issued Integrated Nutrition Support Programme- Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan (2.0), Rules 2022 to regulate the entitlements specified under the provisions of National Food Security Act, 2013 for every pregnant woman and lactating mother, till six months after childbirth and every child in the age group of six months to six years.

To encourage diet-diversity and consumption of wholesome local produce, Poshan Vatikas have been developed at AWCs.

Under this Mission, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of good nutrition habit requires sustained efforts for behavioral change. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitization activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events

(CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month.

The ‘Poshan Tracker’ application was rolled out as an important governance tool. The Poshan Tracker facilitates monitoring and tracking of all AWCs, AWWs and beneficiaries on defined indicators. Technology under Poshan Tracker is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, underweight prevalence among children. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, opening of AWCs, daily attendance of children, ECCE activities, Growth Monitoring of children, Provision of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR-not raw ration), Growth Measurement etc.

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