Under Mission 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 15^th 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 including 3,514 AWCs for the State of Rajasthan have been approved for upgradation across the country as Saksham Anganwadis.

Under Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0, IT systems have been leveraged to strengthen and bring about transparency in nutrition delivery support systems at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). ‘Poshan Tracker’ application was rolled out as an important governance tool under the Mission.

It facilitates monitoring and tracking of all AWCs, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators. Technology under Poshan Tracker is being 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, opening and closing of AWCs, daily attendance of children, growth monitoring of children, Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) activities, Delivery of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR-not raw ration), Growth Measurement etc. The App also offers counselling videos on key behaviours and services which help disseminate messages on birth preparedness, delivery of child, post-natal care, breastfeeding and complementary feeding. Regular field level trainings/workshops are conducted directly for AWWs regarding use of the Poshan Tracker Application. Poshan Tracker also features self-learning videos for AWWs, enabling continuous capacity building and on-the-job learning through digital modules.

Further, for last mile tracking of Service Delivery, Facial Recognition System (FRS) has been developed in Poshan Tracker Application for distribution of Take-Home Ration to ensure that benefit is given only to the intended beneficiary registered in Poshan Tracker.

The Nominee Module has been introduced in Poshan Tracker to ensure uninterrupted delivery of Take-Home Ration (THR) to the beneficiaries; Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, and Adolescent Girls. If due to any reason, the registered beneficiary is unable to visit the Anganwadi Centre to receive their THR through FRS, she can nominate a nominee on her behalf to receive her THR. Nominee has to undergo e-KYC only ONCE. But face matching will be done every time for receiving THR on behalf of the beneficiary. Even after addition of the nominee, beneficiary can still receive the THR at the Anganwadi Center if the nominee has not received it already.

Under the Mission, AWWs have been provided with smartphones procured by States/UTs on a cost sharing basis for data entry and use of Poshan Tracker application. All AWWs, supervisors and block coordinators are provided with internet connectivity charges at the rate of Rs. 2000 per annum per AWC.

Block and District Coordinators provide on-ground handholding support to AWWs for effective usage of the Poshan Tracker and resolution of technical glitches. Besides this, the States and UTs have also been advised to discontinue the use of physical registers.

Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. Central Government is responsible for the overall planning and policy under the scheme whereas its day-to-day implementation falls under the ambit of State Government or UT administration.

Additionally, the Ministry also monitors the implementation of scheme including infrastructure facilities at anganwadi centres through meetings and VCs with the States at various levels.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Annpurna Devi in Lok Sabha in reply to a question today.

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SS

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