**Executive Summary**
This report outlines the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s implementation of the Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0 schemes, which integrate nutrition, health, and early education services. As of March 2026, over 1.03 lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) have been upgraded and more than 10.5 lakh workers have been trained under the "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi" initiative. Key milestones include the January 2023 revision of nutritional norms and the ongoing deployment of the "Poshan Tracker" digital platform for real-time monitoring and benefit delivery.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Integrated Service Delivery**
* The scheme provides six core services: supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition and health education, immunization, health check-ups, and referral services.
* Health-related services (immunization, check-ups, and referrals) are delivered via the National Health Mission and public health infrastructure.
* Mission Poshan 2.0 focuses on maternal nutrition, infant feeding norms, and treatment of malnutrition (SAM/MAM) using AYUSH practices.
**Nutritional Standards and Enhancements**
* Nutritional norms were revised in January 2023 to improve the quality and diversity of food provided to children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
* The revised standards prioritize quality protein, healthy fats, and essential micronutrients.
* Children identified with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) receive additional supplementary nutrition.
**Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)**
* The "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi" (PBPB) initiative focuses on upgrading AWC infrastructure and training Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) in pedagogy.
* Funding for Pre-school Education (PSE) kits has been increased to ₹3,000 per AWC annually.
* Two new frameworks were launched in March 2024: *Navchetana* (for children up to 3 years) and *Aadharshila* (for children aged 3 to 6 years).
**Digital Monitoring and Transparency**
* The "Poshan Tracker" e-Governance portal, launched in March 2021, captures real-time data on beneficiaries and center performance.
* AWWs are provided with smartphones and internet connectivity for data entry and to receive daily learning prompts (videos, voice notes, and PDFs).
* Growth Monitoring Devices (GMDs) and Facial Recognition System (FRS) technology are utilized to track child growth and ensure the secure delivery of Take-Home Rations (THR).
**Impact Analysis**
**Anganwadi Workers (AWWs)**
**Impact:** AWWs are transitioning from manual record-keeping to digital monitoring while taking on enhanced roles as educators through ECCE pedagogy.
**Action Required:** Must utilize provided smartphones to enter real-time data into the Poshan Tracker and undergo training for the *Navchetana* and *Aadharshila* frameworks.
**Children (6 months to 6 years)**
**Impact:** Beneficiaries receive more balanced nutrition under revised 2023 norms and gain access to standardized pre-school education and stimulation activities.
**Action Required:** Must be registered on the Poshan Tracker and attend AWCs for growth monitoring and educational activities.
**Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, and Adolescent Girls**
**Impact:** These groups receive targeted supplementary nutrition and health education aimed at reducing anemia and improving maternal wellness.
**Action Required:** Must register through the Nominee Module or Poshan Tracker to ensure uninterrupted delivery of Take-Home Rations (THR).
**Ministry of Women and Child Development**
**Impact:** The Ministry is responsible for large-scale infrastructure upgrades and the oversight of a data-driven nutrition delivery system.
**Action Required:** Continue monitoring the upgrade of AWCs and manage the digital infrastructure of the Poshan Tracker; notably, the Ministry is currently not pursuing skill development programs for women through this scheme.
Key Entities Referenced
Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0: An integrated scheme providing a package of services including supplementary nutrition, health check-ups, and early childhood education to children and women.
Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB): An initiative under Mission Saksham Anganwadi focused on improving the quality of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) through infrastructure and teacher training.
National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013: The legislative framework that mandates nutrition norms for supplementary food provided to children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
Poshan Tracker: An e-Governance portal and application used for real-time monitoring of nutrition delivery, beneficiary tracking, and ECCE service distribution.
Navchetana and Aadharshila: National frameworks and curriculums launched to standardize early childhood stimulation and education for children aged 0-6 years.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 Scheme
provides package of services in an integrated
manner
Ministry of Women and Child Development launched Poshan
Bhi Padhai Bhi initiative under Mission Saksham Anganwadi
and POSHAN 2.0
Government has upgraded 1,03,940 Anganwadi Centres into
Saksham Anganwadi Centres
Posted On: 01 APR 2026 12:34PM by PIB Delhi
The Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 Scheme provides the following package of services in an
integrated manner to eligible beneficiaries:
i. Supplementary nutrition.
ii. Pre-school non-formal education.
iii. Nutrition and health education.
iv. Immunization.
v. Health check-up.
vi. 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) and Public Health Infrastructure.
Under Mission Poshan 2.0, a new strategy has been adopted for reduction in malnutrition and for
improved health, wellness and immunity of children. It includes approaches like community engagement,
outreach, behavioural change and advocacy. It focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child
Feeding Norms, treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM)
and wellness through AYUSH practices to reduce prevalence of wasting, stunting, anemia and being
underweight.
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 (NFSA), 2013. These norms have been revised in January 2023. Revised
norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary
nutrition. It is 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 SAM children.Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) launched the Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB)
initiative under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. PBPB aims at improving the quality of
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) through the Anganwadi system by equipping Anganwadi
Centres (AWCs) with high-quality infrastructure, play equipment, and well-trained Anganwadi Workers
(AWWs).
Capacity building of AWWs has been envisioned as the first step towards improving the quality of ECCE.
Under the capacity building programme of PBPB, 10,58,168 AWWs have been trained as on 27th March
2026 in ECCE pedagogy and delivery of nutritional services. Under PBPB, allocation for Pre-school
Education (PSE) Kits has been increased to ₹3,000 per AWC per year for providing adequate PSE kits at
the AWCs. In order to improve the quality of ECCE, Government launched in March 2024, Navchetana - a
National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for children up to 3 years of age, and Aadharshila -
National Curriculum for ECCE for children of 3 to 6 years age. Navchetana framework empowers
caregivers and AWWs for holistic early stimulation of children through responsive caregiving.
Aadharshila improves the quality of early childhood education transacted at AWCs by prioritizing play-
based activities covering all learning domains.
Government has so far upgraded 1,03,940 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) into Saksham Anganwadi Centres
for better delivery of nutrition and increased focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
services to the beneficiaries.
In order to leverage information technology to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition
delivery support systems at the AWCs, Government has rolled out ‘Poshan Tracker’ e-Governance portal
on 1st March 2021. Poshan Tracker enables capturing of the real time data of the Mission. All AWWs are
provided with smart phones along with Internet connectivity to ensure smooth and uninterrupted data
entry. The Poshan Tracker facilitates monitoring and tracking of all AWCs, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs)
and beneficiaries on defined indicators. Poshan Tracker based applications are being leveraged for
dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children.
Provision of Growth Monitoring Devices (GMDs) have also been made at each AWC for the growth
monitoring of registered beneficiaries.
Further, for last mile tracking of Service Delivery, Facial Recognition System (FRS) has been developed
using Poshan Tracker for distribution of Take-Home Ration (THR) to ensure that benefit is given only to
the intended and identified beneficiary registered on Poshan Tracker. The Nominee Module has been
introduced in Poshan Tracker to ensure uninterrupted delivery of THR to all the beneficiaries.
Poshan Tracker is being used for delivery of ECCE at AWCs. Daily learning prompts are delivered to
AWWs through Poshan Tracker in the form of over 249 videos, 190 voice notes and 159 unique ECCE
activity PDFs for children aged 3–6 years. For children aged 0–3 years, 14 videos comprising 140
activities of early childhood stimulation have been developed to support structured home visits and
caregiver engagement.
At present, Ministry of Women and Child Development does not propose skill development and
entrepreneurship programs for women through Anganwadi and Self-Help Groups.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri
Thakur in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.
****
SS(Release ID: 2247564) Visitor Counter : 171
Read this release in: ही