Parliament Question: Status and welfare measures for Anganwadi Workers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 1434 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026 STATUS AND WELFARE MEASURES FOR ANGANWADI WORKERS 1434. SHRI RAJINDER GUPTA: Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state: (a) the year-wise and State-wise/UT-wise number of Anganwadi Workers employed during the last five years; (b) the current number of vacancies for Anganwadi Workers, State-wise/UT-wise and the steps taken to fill such vacancies; (c) the roles and responsibilities assigned to Anganwadi Workers, including delivery of nutrition, early childhood education, health and women-centric services; (d) the worker-to-beneficiary ratio, State-wise/UT-wise and whether it conforms to prescribed norms; and (e) whether the Ministry has examined the recommendations of any recent committee relating to enhancement of honorarium and establishment of an Anganwadi Workers’ Welfare Board and if so, the action taken or proposed in this regard? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (e): Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, a package of six services are provided to the eligible beneficiaries i.e Supplementary Nutrition (SNP), Pre-school Non-formal Education, Nutrition & Health Education, Immunization, Health Check-up, and Referral Services. Three of the six services, viz., Immunization, Health check-up and Referral Services are related to health and are provided through National Health Mission (NHM) & Public Health Infrastructure.These services are provided to the eligible registered beneficiaries through the platform of Anganwadi Centre. Each Anganwadi Centre consists of an Anganwadi Worker and Anganwadi Helper who are honorary workers 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. The detailed roles and responsibilities of Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers are available on Ministry’s website at the link: https://wcd.gov.in/offerings/nutrition-mission-saksham- anganwadi-and-poshan-2-0-mission-saksham-anganwadi-poshan-2-0. Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) are paid a monthly honorarium which 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; AWHs from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.2,250/- per month as per the defined cost sharing ratio between the centre& the States/UTs. Besides, performance linked incentive of Rs.500/- is provided to AWWs and Rs.250/- per month to AWHs. In addition, States/UTs are also paying additional monetary incentives/top ups to these voluntary workers from their own resources which vary from State to State. Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, AWWs have been technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones for efficient monitoring and service delivery. 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. Leave: 20 days annual leave and paid maternity absence of 180 days, paid absence on abortion/ miscarriage once for 45 days. ii. 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 sectors in the country to ensure old age protection.iii. Promotion: Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, promotional opportunities for Anganwadi Workers have been enhanced. 50% posts of Anganwadi Workers are to be filled by Anganwadi Helpers with 5 years of experience and 50% posts of Supervisors are to be filled by promotion of Anganwadi Workers with 5 years of experience subject to fulfilment of other criteria. iv. Social Security Insurance Schemes: Insurance benefits have been provided to Anganwadi Workers and Helpers 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 Anganwadi Workers and Helpers 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 Anganwadi workers and helpers in pursuance to budget announcement in FY 2024-25. Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. The Central Government is responsible for policy and planning and the State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for day-to-day program implementation including recruitment of staff for implementation of the scheme. The matter regarding filling up of vacant posts at various levels is regularly taken up with them through sustained engagements and video conferences so as to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the beneficiaries. The State and UT wise details of Anganwadi Workers in position and beneficiaries are available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics. *****