**Executive Summary**
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has undertaken various initiatives to incentivize and encourage Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. This includes increased honorariums, provision of smartphones for efficient monitoring through the Poshan Tracker, enhanced promotional opportunities, social security insurance schemes, and annual healthcare coverage. States and UTs have been requested to adopt a uniform retirement date of April 30th for AWWs and AWHs to ensure proper human resource planning.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0:**
* A package of six services are provided to eligible beneficiaries: Supplementary Nutrition, Pre-school Non-formal Education, Nutrition & Health Education, Immunization, Health Check-up, and Referral Services.
* Services are delivered through Anganwadi Centres, each staffed by an Anganwadi Worker and an Anganwadi Helper.
* **Honorarium Enhancement:**
* Honorariums for AWWs at Anganwadi centres (AWCs) have been increased from Rs.3,000/- to Rs.4,500/- per month, effective October 1, 2018.
* Honorariums for AWHs have been increased from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.2,250/- per month.
* A performance-linked incentive of Rs.500/- is provided to AWWs and Rs.250/- to AWHs per month.
* States/UTs also provide additional monetary incentives/top ups.
* **Technology Empowerment:**
* AWWs are provided with smartphones for efficient monitoring and service delivery.
* The Poshan Tracker mobile application digitizes physical registers used by Anganwadi workers.
* **Incentives and Benefits:**
* Leave: 20 days of annual leave, 180 days of paid maternity absence, and 45 days of paid absence for abortion/miscarriage.
* States and UTs are encouraged to enroll AWWs and AWHs in the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan (PM-SYM) Pension Scheme.
* 50% posts of Anganwadi Workers are to be filled by Anganwadi Helpers with 5 years of experience. 50% posts of Supervisors are to be filled by promotion of Anganwadi Workers with 5 years of experience.
* Insurance benefits under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) for life cover of Rs.2.00 lakh for ages 18-50 years.
* Accidental cover of Rs.2.00 Lakh (death and permanent full disability) /Rs.1.00 Lakh (partial but permanent disability) under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for ages 18-59 years.
* Annual Healthcare coverage of Rs. 5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to all Anganwadi workers and helpers.
* Retirement date: States and UTs have been requested to adopt a uniform retirement date of April 30th.
* **Implementation:**
* Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme.
* Central Government is responsible for policy and planning.
* State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for day-to-day program implementation.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs)**
* **Impact:** Increased financial security through enhanced honorariums, incentives, and insurance schemes. Improved working conditions through technology empowerment and enhanced leave policies. Greater access to social security and healthcare benefits. Opportunities for professional growth through enhanced promotional avenues.
* **Action Required:** Enroll in the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan (PM-SYM) Pension Scheme. Utilize the Poshan Tracker mobile application for efficient monitoring and service delivery. Familiarize themselves with the updated leave policies and insurance benefits.
**Stakeholder: State Governments/UT Administrations**
* **Impact:** Greater responsibility for the successful implementation of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Need to ensure adequate staffing and infrastructure for Anganwadi Centres.
* **Action Required:** Implement the enhanced honorariums, incentives, and social security schemes for AWWs and AWHs. Ensure that AWWs are provided with smartphones and trained to use the Poshan Tracker. Adopt a uniform retirement date of April 30th.
**Stakeholder: Beneficiaries of Anganwadi Centres**
* **Impact:** Improved quality and delivery of services through better-equipped and motivated Anganwadi workers. Greater access to essential services such as supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, and healthcare.
* **Action Required:** Continue to avail of the services provided by Anganwadi Centres.
Key Entities Referenced
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: A centrally sponsored scheme providing a package of six services to eligible beneficiaries, including supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, health education, immunization, health check-ups, and referral services.
Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs): Honorary workers from the local community who provide childcare and development services through Anganwadi Centres.
Anganwadi Centre: A platform for providing services to eligible registered beneficiaries, each consisting of an Anganwadi Worker and Anganwadi Helper.
Ministry of Women and Child Development: The government ministry responsible for overseeing the Anganwadi program and related initiatives.
Poshan Tracker: A mobile phone application used by Anganwadi workers to digitize physical registers, improving the quality of their work and enabling real-time monitoring.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Various initiatives undertaken to incentivize and
encourage Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi
Helpers
Poshan Tracker improves the quality of work of Anganwadi
workers
Posted On: 11 FEB 2026 3:04PM by PIB Delhi
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.g
ov.in/offerings/nutrition-mission-saksham-anganwadi-and-poshan-2-0-mission-saksham-anganwadi-posha
n-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.
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 today.
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SS
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