Under the centrally sponsored Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, the Government of India has taken several steps to enhance infrastructure and service delivery at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) across the country. During the 15th Finance Commission cycle, 50,000 AWCs are being constructed at a rate of 10,000 per year in convergence with the MGNREGS, with funding contributions from the 15th Finance Commission, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), and other untied funds.
States and Union Territories have also been advised to utilize funds from schemes such as the MPLADS, Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), and the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) to support AWC construction. Tribal development initiatives like the PM Janman Scheme, Dharti Abha Janjatiye Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, and the Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) – Phase I are also contributing to targeted infrastructure development in border and tribal regions.
Funding for essential facilities at AWCs has been increased, with allocations for drinking water raised from ₹10,000 to ₹17,000 and for toilets from ₹12,000 to ₹36,000.
Under Mission Poshan 2.0, approximately two lakh AWCs located in government buildings are being strengthened as Saksham Anganwadis, equipped with LED screens, water filtration systems, Poshan Vatika, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) materials, and BALA (Building as Learning Aid) paintings to provide improved nutrition and early childhood education services.
AWCs have also been technologically empowered with smartphones and growth monitoring devices to ensure efficient monitoring and service delivery. The Poshan Tracker application has been rolled out as a key governance tool, enabling near real-time tracking of all AWCs, workers, and beneficiaries on defined indicators. This technology helps monitor activities like AWC operations, daily attendance, ECCE sessions, growth monitoring, provision of hot cooked meals (HCM), and take-home rations (THR).
For last-mile tracking of services, the Facial Recognition System (FRS) has been implemented to ensure THR distribution only to registered beneficiaries. The Nominee Module allows pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls to authorize a nominee to collect THR on their behalf, while still maintaining their ability to receive THR directly.
This information was provided by Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Annpurna Devi, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
Nurturing Creativity – Keekli Charitable Trust, Shimla
