Under the Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, 14.03 lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) are operational in the whole country to provide Anganwadi Services, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), awareness on growth and development of children and benefits of Supplementary Nutrition to nearly 8.98 crore registered beneficiaries. To ensure optimal learning for all children at AWCs including Divyang, two curriculum frameworks have been developed- "Navchetana- National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for Children from Birth to Three Years, 2024" and "Aadharshila- National Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education for Children from Three to Six Years 2024".

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched 'Poshan Tracker' digital application for near real time monitoring and tracking of all activities in the AWCs, Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators. The details of measurable improvements in nutritional levels are available in Poshan Tracker public dashboard at the given link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics. The application also offers counselling videos on key behaviours and services which help disseminate messages related to birth preparedness, delivery of child, post-natal care, breastfeeding and complementary feeding. Regular field-level trainings and workshops are conducted for Anganwadi Workers for using Poshan Tracker application.

Further under Mission Poshan 2.0, a cascading training model, Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) has been institutionalized. Under the initiative, to enhance early learning through the Anganwadi system, for children from birth to 6 years, State Level Master Trainers (SLMTs) are trained by the Savitribai Phule National Institute of Women and Child Development (SPNIWCD). These Master Trainers, in turn, impart training to Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) at the field level, ensuring large-scale and uniform capacity-building. As on 16th March 2026, a total of 41,645 SLMTs and 10,35,949 AWWs have been trained under Round 1 and 3,641 SLMTs under Round II of the training programme.

Other major activities undertaken in the Mission Poshan 2.0 include Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects, as adoption of good nutrition habits requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. States and Union Territories are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maahs and Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) conducted at Anganwadi Centres have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices, and all Anganwadi Workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month. More than 150 crore Jan Andolan activities have been conducted since 2018 through 15 Jan Andolans in the country. Also, Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices. All Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two CBEs every month. A total of 9.8 crore CBEs has been conducted from 2018 to February 2026.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued Streamlining Guidelines on Quality Assurance, Roles and Responsibilities of Duty Holders, procurement procedures, integration of AYUSH concepts and data management and monitoring through Poshan Tracker for transparency, efficiency and accountability in delivery of Supplementary Nutrition.

Further, third-party evaluation and impact assessments of Poshan Abhiyaan conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020 and also in 2025 for Mission Poshan 2.0 have found its relevance to be satisfactory for tackling malnutrition in the country

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM are to mobilize rural women into collectives to encourage savings and take up multiple livelihoods opportunities to increase household income and thereby reduce rural poverty. Thus, SHGs are not directly working on welfare of children. There are 90.91 Lakh SHGs across 34 States and UTs (Except Delhi and Chandigarh) in the country.

To enhance the efficiency of SHGs, The Ministry of Rural Development under DAY-NRLM, is conducting awareness activities on nutrition, health and sanitation amongst SHG households through group meetings, community-based events, and mobilization to public health, nutrition and sanitation services with an aim to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on health and improve quality of life. The training material issued by the line Ministries have been adapted in SHG context and are being used for discussions in the group meetings. SHG network is also supporting various national nutrition, health and sanitation campaigns. The IEC material shared by the host Ministry is circulated to the SHGs. Further, it is planned to develop an online learning mechanism for easy access to learning material and an online monitoring system to track progress.

For SHGs, Ministry of Rural Development is focusing on 'Lakhpati' initiative, bank linkage and community funds for financial empowerment of SHG women. For awareness on nutrition, health and sanitation, online learning and monitoring systems is being planned for strengthening quality standards and community participation.

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 today.

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SS