The Central Government is steadily transforming India’s grassroots nutrition infrastructure by strengthening two lakh Anganwadi Centres as Saksham Anganwadis under Mission Poshan 2.0. Implemented at the pace of 40,000 centres per year, the initiative aims to address malnutrition while improving early childhood care and education across the country.
Upgrading Anganwadis Into Saksham Anganwadis
Under the 15th Finance Commission cycle, two lakh Anganwadi Centres located in government buildings are being upgraded into Saksham Anganwadis. These centres are equipped with enhanced facilities compared to conventional Anganwadis.
The upgraded infrastructure includes LED screens, safe drinking water through filtration systems, Poshan Vatikas, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) learning material, and BALA paintings to create child-friendly learning spaces.
Community Awareness and Behavioural Change
Mission Poshan 2.0 places strong emphasis on community mobilisation and awareness to promote healthy nutrition habits. States and UTs regularly conduct Jan Andolans during Poshan Maah in September and Poshan Pakhwada in March–April.
Anganwadi Workers are mandated to organise two Community Based Events every month, which have emerged as a crucial strategy for encouraging behavioural change in nutrition practices.
Focused Support for Tribal Communities
To address regional and social inequities, the government has sanctioned 2,500 Anganwadi Centres under PM JANMAN for the development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups across the country.
Additionally, 875 Anganwadi Centres have been approved under the Dharti Abha Janjati Gram Unnat Abhiyan to improve the socio-economic conditions of tribal communities.
Improved Infrastructure Funding
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has significantly enhanced funding norms for basic amenities at Anganwadi Centres. Allocation for drinking water facilities has been increased from ₹10,000 to ₹17,000, while funding for toilets has been raised from ₹12,000 to ₹36,000.
These improvements aim to ensure hygienic and safe environments for children, mothers, and frontline workers.
Digital Monitoring Through Poshan Tracker
Mission Poshan 2.0 is supported by the Poshan Tracker, an ICT-based platform that enables real-time monitoring of services and beneficiaries at Anganwadi Centres.
The tool tracks child growth indicators such as stunting, wasting, and underweight prevalence, along with daily attendance, hot cooked meals, take-home rations, ECCE activities, and monthly progress reports.
Poshan Helpline Enhances Accessibility
The Poshan Tracker is supported by a dedicated multilingual Poshan Helpline number 1515. The helpline provides grievance redressal and information support to beneficiaries and Anganwadi Workers across diverse regions of India.
This system strengthens transparency, accountability, and access to services under the scheme.
Strengthening ECCE Through School Co-location
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, guidelines for co-locating Anganwadi Centres within government primary schools were launched on September 3, 2025. The initiative strengthens ECCE and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in line with the National Education Policy 2020.
As per UDISE+ data, nearly 2.99 lakh Anganwadi Centres have already been co-located with government primary schools across the country.
Parliamentary Statement
The details of Mission Poshan 2.0 were shared by Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Smt. Savitri Thakur, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
