Parliament Question: Service Condition of AWWs and AWHs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1109 ANSWERED ON 24.07.2026 SERVICE CONDITION OF AWWs AND AWHs 1109. SHRI KALI CHARAN MUNDA: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has received representations for enhancement of service conditions of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) from various States including Jharkhand, if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has examined the demand for implementation of gratuity for AWWs and AWHs in compliance with the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, if so, the present status thereof; and (c) the steps taken by the Government to improve their honorarium, social security benefits and service conditions? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (c) Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) are honorary workers drawn from the local community who voluntarily come forward to render their services in the area of child care and development to help the local community for which they are paid honorarium. This honorarium is increased from time to time. From 1st October, 2018, Government of India has enhanced the honorarium of AWWs at Anganwadi centres (AWCs) from Rs.3,000/- to Rs.4,500/- per month and AWHs from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.2,250/- per month as per the defined cost sharing ratio between the Centre and States and UTs. In addition, States and UTs are also paying additional monetary incentives and top ups to these functionaries from their own resources which vary from State to State. Details of additional top ups provided by States and UTs are at Annexure.Besides, performance linked incentive of Rs.500/- per month is provided to AWWs and Rs.250/- per month to AWHs. Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, AWWs have been technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones for efficient monitoring and delivery of services. Poshan Tracker which is a mobile phone application that has digitized physical registers used by Anganwadi workers. This improves the quality of their work while simultaneously enabling them for real-time monitoring of all activities going on in the Anganwadis. To incentivize and encourage the AWWs and AWHs, various initiatives have been undertaken including the following: i. Promotion: Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, promotional opportunities for AWWs and AWHs have been enhanced. 50% posts of AWWs are to be filled by AWHs with 5 years of experience and 50% posts of Supervisors are to be filled by promotion of AWWs with 5 years of experience subject to fulfilment of other criteria. ii. Leave: 20 days’ annual leave and paid maternity absence of 180 days and paid absence on abortion/ miscarriage once for 45 days. iii. State Governments and UT Administrations have been requested to encourage eligible AWWs and AWHs to get themselves enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan (PM-SYM) Pension Scheme, which is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme for the unorganized sector in the country to ensure old age protection. iv. Social Security Insurance Schemes: Insurance benefits have been provided to AWWs and AWHs under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) for life cover worth Rs.2.00 lakh (covers life risk, death due to any reason) in the age group of 18 to 50 years and under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for accidental cover of Rs.2.00 Lakh (accidental death and permanent full disability) /Rs.1.00 Lakh (partial but permanent disability) in the age group of 18-59 years. v. Retirement date: States and UTs have been requested to adopt a uniform retirement date i.e 30th April of each year with respect to AWWs and AWHs to ensure proper human resource planning. vi. Annual Healthcare coverage of Rs. 5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to all AWWs and AWHs in pursuance to budget announcement in FY 2024-25. Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a centrally sponsored scheme and is implemented by the States/UTs. The Central Government is responsible for policy and planning and the State Governments are responsible for day-to-day program implementation and all operational aspectsof the scheme. The Government of India releases funds in the prescribed cost-sharing ratio to the States/UTs for implementation of the Scheme. Since the implementation of the Scheme is done by the State Government/UT Administration therefore, no specific guidelines have been laid by the Government of India with respect to recruitment, retirement benefits, and payment of Gratuity for Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers. Gratuity is a benefit only paid by the employer as per the provisions of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The States/UTs are the competent authorities to pay the appropriate benefits to the AWWs/AWHs and the primary authorities to decide their service conditions. *****Annexure STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1109 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2026 REGARDING “SERVICE CONDITION OF AWWS AND AWHS” Details of additional top ups as provided by States and UTs: (In Rs.) S. Additional Top-ups paid to Additional Top-ups paid to State/UT No AWW AWH 1 Andaman & Nicobar 7,500 5,750 2 Andhra Pradesh 7,000 4,750 3 Arunachal Pradesh 3,000 3,000 4 Assam 3,500 1,750 5 Bihar 4,500 2,250 6 Chandigarh 3,600 1,800 7 Chhattisgarh 5,500 2,750 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 8 3,500 1,750 Daman & Diu 9 Delhi 6,720 3,360 10 Goa 15,000 - 23,000 8,500 - 11,500 11 Gujarat 5,500 3,250 12 Haryana 10,250 5,650 6,000 3,550 13 Himachal Pradesh 14 Jammu & Kashmir 600 300 7,000 3,500 15 Jharkhand 16 Karnataka 8,000 5,250 17 Kerala 8,300 6,800 18 Ladakh 1,300 650 19 Lakshadweep 5,500 4,750 8,500 4,250 20 Madhya Pradesh 21 Maharashtra 8,500 5,250 22 Manipur 1,000 60023 Meghalaya 3,000 1,000 24 Mizoram 950 725 25 Nagaland NIL NIL 5,500 2,750 26 Odisha 27 Puducherry 2,125 1,950 28 Punjab 5,000 2,850 29 Rajasthan 6,061 4,041 30 Sikkim 7,000 4,500 31 Tamil Nadu 9,780 6,270 32 Telangana 9,150 5,550 33 Tripura 5,946-3,500 4,218-2,750 34 Uttar Pradesh 1,500 750 35 Uttarakhand 4,800 3,000 36 West Bengal 4,500 4,550 *****