Read or download the official PDF of this gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on 24th July 2026. Classified under Press Release.
Executive Summary
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a centrally sponsored initiative aimed at holistically addressing malnutrition and child development through the upgrade of two lakh Anganwadi Centres. The mission introduces revised nutrition norms (updated January 2023) and leverages the ‘Poshan Tracker’ for real-time monitoring. Key implementation dates include the annual celebration of Poshan Maah in September and Poshan Pakhwada in March-April to drive behavioral change.
Key Points / Main Content
Mission Scope and Objectives
Subsumes Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent girls into a single umbrella mission.
Focuses on children under 6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls (ages 14-18) in Aspirational Districts and the North-Eastern region.
Implementation responsibility lies with State and Union Territory (UT) governments.
Infrastructure Upgrades (Saksham Anganwadis)
Two lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) are approved for upgrade to Saksham Anganwadis.
Enhanced facilities include LED screens, water filtration systems, and the establishment of Poshan Vatikas.
Educational improvements feature Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) materials and Building as Learning Aid (BaLA) paintings.
Revised Nutrition and Health Protocols
Nutrition norms were revised in January 2023 to prioritize diet diversity, quantity, and quality over calorie-specific models.
Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children receive extra Supplementary Nutrition via Take Home Rations.
A joint protocol by the Ministry of WCD and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare enables community-based screening and management of SAM children.
Monitoring and Community Engagement
Utilizes the ‘Poshan Tracker’ digital application for near real-time data entry and tracking of beneficiaries and Anganwadi Workers.
Mandates "Jan Andolans" (public movements) to promote nutritional awareness.
Requires Anganwadi Workers to conduct two Community Based Events (CBEs) every month.
Impact Analysis
State and Union Territory GovernmentsImpact
States and UTs are the primary implementing agencies for mission activities across all districts.
Action Required
Implement mission activities, conduct regular sensitization programs, and report on these activities during designated months (September, March, and April).
Anganwadi Workers (AWWs)Impact
Workers are now required to integrate digital tools into their daily routines and take a leading role in community mobilization.
Action Required
Perform near real-time data entry on the ‘Poshan Tracker’ and organize exactly two Community Based Events (CBEs) per month.
Beneficiaries (Children, Women, and Adolescent Girls)Impact
Beneficiaries receive more balanced nutrition and improved childcare environments; data shows an 8.5 percentage point decline in anaemia among children aged 6–59 months.
Action Required
Participate in community-based screening for malnutrition and engage with local Anganwadi services for supplementary nutrition and ECCE activities.
Key Entities Referenced
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: An umbrella scheme that subsumes Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan, and schemes for adolescent girls to address malnutrition and provide Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).
National Food Security Act, 2013: The legislation under which Schedule-II mandates the nutrition norms for supplementary nutrition provided to children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
Poshan Tracker: An ICT-based governance tool used for real-time monitoring and review of Anganwadi centers, workers, and beneficiary identification.
Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children: A joint policy framework released to prevent and treat severe acute malnutrition through community-based screening and medical management.
Ministry of Women and Child Development: The primary central ministry responsible for implementing, monitoring, and upgrading two lakh Anganwadi Centres into Saksham Anganwadis.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Two lakh Anganwadi Centres have been
approved to be upgraded as Saksham
Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition
and for ECCE activities
प्रव तथ: 24 JUL 2026 2:00PM by PIB Delhi
To address the challenges of malnutrition, Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for
Adolescent girls have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
(Mission Poshan 2.0). It is a Centrally Sponsored Mission, where the responsibility for implementation of
various activities lies with the States and UTs. The Mission is being implemented in all States and UTs in
the country including high burden districts. The Mission includes beneficiaries; Children under 6 years of
age, pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls (age 14-18 years in Aspirational Districts and
North-Eastern region).
Under the Mission, two lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) have been approved to be upgraded as Saksham
Anganwadis for delivery of improved nutrition and for ECCE activities. These AWCs are equipped with
better infrastructure such as LED screens, water filtration system, Poshan Vatika, Early Childhood Care
and Education (ECCE) material and Building as Learning Aid (BaLA) paintings.
Further, 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, 2013. These norms have been revised in January 2023. The old norms
were largely calorie-specific; however, the revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms
of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity. Extra
Supplementary Nutrition (Take Home Ration) is also provided to Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM)
children.
The Scheme is digitally monitored and regularly reviewed by the Ministry using ‘Poshan Tracker’ digital
application, an ICT based governance tool. The application enables near real time entry of data and
tracking of all activities in the Anganwadi Centers (AWC), Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and
beneficiaries on defined indicators. State-wise details of the beneficiaries identified along with the
improvements achieved is available at the given link of Poshan Tracker:
https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.
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 behavioural change. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation 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 third-party evaluation and impact assessment of Poshan Abhiyaan was conducted by NITI Aayog in
2020 and has found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country. NITI Aayog
has also got conducted outcome-based evaluation of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 in
2025. Evidence from institutional assessments and household surveys indicated that in its current form,
Mission Poshan 2.0 represents the Government’s latest effort to holistically combat malnutrition and
promote child development, by building on past programs with a converged and strengthened approach.
Further, on the micronutrient front, the prevalence of anaemia among children aged 6–59 months declined
by 8.5 percentage points, reflecting the potential impact of iron-folic acid supplementation, fortified foods,
and improved outreach under SNP and related interventions.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri
Thakur in Lok Sabha in reply to a question.
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SS
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