Parliament Question: Strengthening Anganwadi Services in Sasaram

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *85 ANSWERED ON 24.07.2026 STRENGTHENING ANGANWADI SERVICES IN SASARAM *85. SHRI MANOJ KUMAR: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that several villages in the Sasaram Lok Sabha Constituency face shortages of Anganwadi centres, inadequate infrastructure and vacancies of Anganwadi workers, affecting the delivery of nutrition and early childhood care services, if so, the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard; (b) the details of Anganwadi centres sanctioned, operational and under construction in the said constituency, district and block-wise during the last five years; (c) whether the Government proposes to sanction new Anganwadi centres and upgrade existing centres with improved infrastructure and basic facilities, if so, the details thereof; (d) the steps taken to reduce malnutrition and anaemia among children, pregnant women and lactating mothers in the constituency; and (e) whether the Government proposes to strengthen the implementation of nutrition and child development programmes in the constituency, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI) (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 85 FOR REPLY ON 24.07.2026 REGARDING “STRENGTHENING ANGANWADI SERVICES IN SASARAM” ASKED BY SHRI MANOJ KUMAR (a) to (e) Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. Under the Mission, a package of six services i.e Supplementary Nutrition (SNP), Pre-school Non-formal Education, Nutrition & Health Education, Immunization, Health Check-up, and Referral Services are provided to the eligible beneficiaries through Anganwadi Centres. 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 i.e children up to the age of 6 years, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers across the country and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years in Aspirational Districts of States and all districts of North Eastern Region by through the platform of Anganwadi Centre. Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, there is a provision of construction of AWC building in convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Further, States/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. Under PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan), a total of 2,500 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) have been sanctioned for construction in PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) areas out of which 59 AWCs has been sanctioned for construction in the state of Bihar. Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) focusses on convergence, outreach and saturation in approximately, 63,843 villages. Under DAGJUA, 875 AWCs have been sanctioned for construction out of which 45 AWCs has been sanctioned for construction in the state of Bihar. Directions have been issued to States/UTs to co-locate Anganwadi Centres, which are running on rent without sufficient infrastructure, at nearby Primary Schools, where space is available. Guidelines for Co-locating Anganwadi Centres within Government Primary Schools have been issued jointly with Ministry of Education. Also, in order to improve the infrastructure facilities at AWCs, funds @Rs.17,000/- for providing drinking water facilities and @Rs.36,000/- for construction of toilets are provided to States and UTs. A total of 1,58,966 AWCs including 12,767 AWCs to the State of Bihar have been approved for providing drinking water facilities and 1,42,522 AWCs including 18,758 AWCs to the State of Bihar have been approved for construction of toilets across the country.Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, two lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) located in Government buildings have been sanctioned as Saksham Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition and for Early Childhood Care and Education in the 15th Finance Commission cycle. Saksham Anganwadis are provided with infrastructure such as LED screens, water filtration system, Poshan Vatika, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) material and Building as Learning Aid (BALA) paintings. Out of the sanctioned 2 Lakh AWCs, 11,529 AWCs have been approved for upgradation as Saksham Anganwadis for the State of Bihar. Sasaram Parliamentary Constituency have two Districts namely Kaimur and Rohtas. The district wise number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) along with AWCs operational in owned buildings, infrastructure and field functionaries for the State of Bihar is available at the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics. The implementation of the scheme falls under the ambit of State Governments and UTs administration. The matter regarding vacancies and infrastructure is regularly taken up with them through sustained engagements and video conferences so as to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to the beneficiaries. 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. Further, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare have jointly released the Protocol for Management of malnutrition in Children to prevent and treat severely acute malnutrition in children and for reducing associated morbidity and mortality. The community-based approach involves timely detection and screening of children with severe acute malnutrition in the community, management for those without medical complications with wholesome, local nutritious foods at home and supportive medical care. 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 10.8 crore CBEs have been conducted from 2018 to June 2026 and more than 156 crore Jan Andolan activities have been conducted since 2018 through 16 Jan Andolans. The ‘Poshan Tracker’ App 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. 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. *****