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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 629
TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026
STRENGTHENING ANGANWADI SERVICES IN TRIBAL DISTRICTS OF ODISHA
629. SHRI MANAS RANJAN MANGARAJ:
Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:
(a) the district-wise status of Anganwadi Centres in Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur,
Rayagada and Kandhamal, including infrastructure and staff vacancies;
(b) the steps taken to ensure quality supplementary nutrition, growth monitoring and early
childhood education in these districts;
(c) whether Government proposes additional funds and model Anganwadi Centres in tribal
and remote areas of Odisha; and
(d) the timeline for saturation of services under Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)
(a). The district wise status of Anganwadi Centres in Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur,
Rayagada and Kandhamal, including infrastructure and staff vacancies is available at the link:
https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.
(b) to (d): Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Supplementary Nutrition is
provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and
Adolescent Girls in accordance with the nutritional norms contained in Schedule-II of the
National Food Security Act (NFSA). States/UTs are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the
local conditions and availability.
Regular monitoring of growth parameters is essential for identifying children who may be
malnourished and for making timely interventions. Therefore, Anganwadi centres have been
equipped with Growth Monitoring devices like infantometer, stadiometer, weighing scale-
infant, weighing scale – Mother & Child.
Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) Programme was launched on 10th May, 2023 with an objective
to improve the quality of early childhood education in the Anganwadi centers along with the
focus on nutrition. Under PBPB, a Two Tier training model is being followed which covers
curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment tools emphasizing play-based, activity-based learning.Capacity-building under PBPB helps to facilitate implementation of Aadharshila (National
Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education for Children from Three to Six Years)
and Navchetana (National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for Children from Birth
to Three Years) at the Anganwadi Centre level in the mother tongue. As on 29.01.2026, 41,645
State Level Master Trainers (SLMTs) have been trained under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi across
the country including 2742 SLMTs from the State of Odisha and 10,01,898 Anganwadi
Workers have been trained across the country including 19,326 AWWs from the State of
Odisha.
Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, two lakh Anganwadi Centres located in
Government buildings @ 40,000 AWCs per year are strengthened 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 better infrastructure than the
conventional Anganwadi centres with LED screens, water filtration system, Poshan Vatika,
ECCE material and BALA paintings. As on 31.01.2026, a total of 2 lakh AWCs has been
approved for upgradation for which an amount of Rs. 1232.65 Cr. have been allocated to all
States/UTs across the country including 12,140 AWCs to the State of Odisha.
In order to improve the infrastructure facility of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) various steps
have been undertaken by the Ministry that, inter alia, include construction of toilets @ Rs.
36,000/- and drinking water facility @ Rs. 17,000/-.
Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, there is a provision of construction of
50000 AWCs buildings over a period of five years @10000 AWCs per year in convergence
with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) @Rs.12
Lakh per AWC wherein Rs.8.00 Lakh would be provided under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 Lakh
under 15th Finance Commission (FC) (or any other untied funds) and Rs.2.00 Lakh by MWCD
per AWC to be shared between Centre and States and UTs in the prescribed cost sharing ratio.
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 including 89 AWCs in the State of Odisha.
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.
Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) Phase-I focuses on comprehensive development of villages
of northern border across four states Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, and
Sikkim and the UT of Ladakh. A total of 101 AWCs has been sanctioned for construction in
these border areas.
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 the Ministry of Education.
Poshan Tracker an ICT tool has been implemented for monitoring and tracking of infrastructure
and service delivery at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators.Poshan Tracker is leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, under-weight
prevalence among children. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi
Services such as daily attendance, Early Childhood Care & Education, Provision of Hot
Cooked Meal (HCM) and Take Home Ration, Growth Measurement etc.
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