Parliament Question: Safe Hostels and Creches at Workplace

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 5610 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026 SAFE HOSTELS AND CRECHES AT WORKPLACE 5610. SHRI BABU SINGH KUSHWAHA: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the lack of the facilities such as safe hostels and creches at workplaces despite the increasing work participation of women in the rural areas of Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether any scheme is being implemented under 'Mission Shakti' to establish safe hostels and creches for the working women in the said Constituency, if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government is aware of the fact that the malnutrition remains a matter of concern in the rural areas of said district; (e) if so, the details of the programmes being implemented to alleviate the same along with the steps taken by the Government for the strengthening of Anganwadi Centres; and (f) whether the Government proposes to increase the number of Anganwadi Centres in the said district and implement a digital monitoring system for the surveillance of nutritional services, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (f): Sakhi Niwas Scheme [Working Women Hostel (WWH)] under the overarching Mission Shakti, is a demand driven centrally sponsored scheme where States/UTs assess their requirement as per local needs and their proposals are approved by the Programme Approval Board (PAB) after discussion with States/UTs. The Scheme aims to promote availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women and for those women who are pursuinghigher education and training, with Day care facility for children in urban, semi-urban and even rural areas where employment opportunity for women exists. In this scheme, fund is provided for rental accommodation. Presently, 8 Sakhi Niwas are functional in the State of Uttar Pradesh under Sakhi Niwas Scheme and there is no Sakhi Niwas functional in Jaunpur district. Further, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Department of Expenditure (DoE) in August, 2024 has allocated Rs.5,000/- crores to 28 States under Part (X) (Construction of Working Women Hostels) of Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) Scheme for construction of working women hostels. Under this Scheme, Rs.382.00 crore has been allocated to the government of Uttar Pradesh and State Govt. has submitted 08 proposals for construction of hostels in Districts of 01 in Ghaziabad, 03 in Lucknow and 04 in Gautam Budh Nagar at the total cost of Rs.382.00 crore. The proposals of State Government have been approved by Department of Expenditure (DoE) and 1st instalment of Rs.251.83 crore released by Department of Expenditure (DoE) to the State Government during 2024-25. During the 15th Finance Commission period, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has introduced Anganwadi-cum-Creches (AWCCs)-Palna under the Samarthya Vertical of Umbrella Mission Shakti for all States and UTs w.e.f. 01 April 2022, to provide day care facilities and protection to children. States/UTs are encouraged to submit proposals for opening more Anganwadi-cum-Creches (AWCCs) in the Programme Approval Board (PAB) meetings which are held with the State Governments and UT Administrations annually. In the PAB meeting 2025-26, no proposal received from the State of Uttar Pradesh under Anganwadi-cum-Creches (AWCCs). 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 including Jaunpur district in the State of Uttar Pradesh. 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 andlactating 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. Poshan Vatikas help to meet the important dietary diversity gap that has been repeatedly revealed in different surveys by providing different fruits, nuts, herbs, medicinal plants and vegetables round the year. The main objective of introducing the concept of Poshan Vatika is to encourage community members to cultivate local food crops in their backyards. 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. A total of 9.8 crore CBEs have been conducted from 2018 to February 2026 and more than 150 crore Jan Andolan activities have been conducted since 2018 through 15 Jan Andolans. 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. The Poshan Tracker application is available here : https://www.poshantracker.in 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) to the beneficiaries; Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, and Adolescent Girls. If due to any reason, the registered beneficiary 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. Under Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, two lakh selected AWCs (40,000 AWCs per year) are being strengthened and upgraded for improved nutrition delivery for stimulating the creative, social, emotional, cognitive and intellectual development of children under 6 years of age in convergence with education development programmes, providing / adding more services with better infrastructure including internet/wifi connectivity to be provided wherever possible through BharatNet, LED screens, water purifier/installation of RO Machine and Early Childhood Care and Education with smart learning aids, audio-visual aids and child-friendly learning equipment’s, Art Work (Educational painting, practice board for children, information board) and wall painting(cleaning, sanding, repairing). Out of this, 1,03,940 Anganwadi Centres have been upgraded to Saksham AWCs as on 09.03.2026. In convergence with Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education Guidelines for Co-locating Anganwadi Centres within Government Primary Schools have been jointly launched on 3rd September, 2025 to strengthen ECCE and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) services. In places where physical co-location is not possible, AWCs are to be mapped with the nearest primary school. Also various other initiatives have been undertaken for construction of AWCs under PM JANMAN and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for the targeted development of Tribal population and Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) – Phase-I, focusing on Northern border areas. 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. ******