State/UT-wise number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and number of Anganwadi Workers/Anganwadi Helpers/Supervisors is annexed. Presently, honorarium of AWWs at main-AWCs is ₹ 4,500/- per month; AWWs at mini-AWCs is ₹3,500/- per month; AWHs is ₹2,250/- per month. Besides performance linked incentive of ₹ 250/- per month to AWHs, modified guidelines have been issued for performance linked incentive @ ₹500/- per month to Anganwadi Workers w.e.f. 01.04.2021. In addition, States/UTs are also paying additional monetary incentives/honorarium to these functionaries from their own resources. Supervisors under Anganwadi Services are government employees, whose pay scales are decided from time to time by the concerned State Government/UT Administration.

In order to improve the working conditions of Anganwadi Workers, Ministry of Women & Child Development has issued revised joint guidelines with Rural Development and Panchayati Raj for construction of 4 lakh AWC buildings across the country under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in convergence with Anganwadi Services (ICDS Scheme). Under Swachhta Action Plan, grants are provided for drinking water facilities and toilet facilities per AWC. Grants are also sanctioned for purchase of water filter, furniture, equipment, etc. Besides, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) have been provided with Smart Phones for efficient service delivery.

There have been sustained engagements with State Governments for review and improvement including recent interactions to discuss different implementation related issues such as Anganwadi Infrastructure, non-operationalisation of Anganwadi Centres, filling of vacancies of Anganwadi Services functionaries, smooth delivery of services to the beneficiaries etc. to strengthen the services.

Further, streamlined guidelines were issued on 13.01.2021, covering several aspects such as quality assurance, roles and responsibilities of duty holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts and Data management and Monitoring through "Poshan Tracker" for transparency, efficiency and accountability in delivery of Supplementary Nutrition has been issued.

In addition, following benefits are also given to AWWs/AWHs:

i) Leave: They have been allowed paid absence of 180 days of maternity leave and 20 paid annual leaves.

ii) Award: In order to motivate the Anganwadi Workers and give recognition to good voluntary work, a Scheme of Award for AWWs/AWHs, comprising Rs.50,000/- cash award to AWWs and Rs.40,000/- cash award to AWHs was introduced.

iii) Uniform: Government has made a provision for a set of two Uniforms (saree/suit per annum).

Government has received demands from Anganwadi Workers/Unions etc. for increasing the honorarium. However, the Government of India undertakes revision of the honorarium of AWWs and AWHs from time to time. With effect from 01.10.2018, the Government of India has enhanced the honorarium of AWWs/AWHs. Additional honorarium is paid by the States/UTs from their own financial resources.

From time to time, there have been sustained engagements with State Governments/UT Administrations for review and improvement including recent interactions to discuss different implementation related issues to strengthen Anganwadi services.

AWWs/AWHs are covered under Social Security Insurance Schemes.  Anganwadi Workers/ Helpers who have been engaged with Covid-19 related tasks have been included in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package for insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh subject to fulfillment of certain conditions prescribed for the coverage.

Also, State Governments/UT Administrations have been requested to encourage eligible AWWs/AWHs to get themselves enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan (PM-SYM) Pension Scheme on voluntary basis in order to get assured monthly pension on attaining the age of 60 years.

With respect to problems/issues faced by Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers, the same are taken up with concerned States/ UTs for appropriate action. Reports on these issues which are serious in nature are sought from State Governments/ UT Administrations.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 

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ANNEXURE

 

 “Honorarium/Wages to Anganwadi Workers” indicating State/UT-wise number of sanctioned and operational Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and Workers/Helpers/Supervisors engaged therein as on 30.06.2021

 

S. No	State/UTs	No. of Anganwadi Centres		No of Supervisor	No. of AWW	No. of AWH
		Sanctioned	Operational	In-position	In-position	In-position
1	Andhra Pradesh	55607	55607	1385	54011	45051
2	Arunachal Pradesh	6225	6225	249	6225	6225
3	Assam	62153	61715	2026	61014	55255
4	Bihar	115009	112094	2181	112048	103141
5	Chhatisgarh	52474	51586	1376	44356	42696
6	Goa	1262	1262	43	1154	1141
7	Gujarat	53029	53029	1703	51660	48589
8	Haryana	25962	25962	767	24610	23469
9	Himachal Pradesh	18925	18925	635	18667	17933
10	Jharkhand	38432	38432	766	37820	34323
11	Karnataka	65911	65911	1972	64417	59961
12	Kerala	33318	33115	1039	33115	32986
13	Madhya Pradesh	97135	97135	3140	95571	82015
14	Maharashtra	110486	109832	2731	104537	84289
15	Manipur	11510	11510	335	11318	9792
16	Meghalaya	5896	5896	185	5894	4627
17	Mizoram	2244	2244	90	2244	2244
18	Nagaland	3980	3980	159	3980	3980
19	Odisha	74154	73172	2428	71474	61380
20	Punjab	27314	27304	692	26001	22683
21	Rajasthan	62010	61625	1475	59228	52983
22	Sikkim	1308	1308	52	1284	1280
23	Tamil Nadu	54439	54439	1125	47264	41960
24	Telangana	35700	35580	802	34016	28438
25	Tripura	10145	9911	234	9911	9911
26	Uttar Pradesh	190145	189309	2826	163863	139756
27	Uttrakhand	20067	20048	435	19511	14286
28	West Bengal*	119481	119481	1291	107231	101563
29	A & N Islands	720	719	27	720	689
30	Chandigarh	450	450	12	439	446
31	Dadra & N Haveli and Daman & Diu	409	405	6	405	337
32	Delhi	10897	10755	363	10397	10740
33	Jammu & Kashmir	30765	28078	1025	27511	27601
34	Ladakh	1173	1140	39	1122	1111
35	Lakshadweep	107	71	2	74	85
36	Puducherry	855	855	0	843	841
Total		1399697	1389110	33616	1313935	1173807
*Available data as on March 2021.

AS

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