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.

*****

SS

(Release ID: 2288795) Visitor Counter : 114