13.40 Lakh Anganwadi Centres in the Country

As on 30.09.2013, 13.40 lakh Anganwadi and mini-Anganwadi Centres (AWCs/ mini-AWCs) are functioning out of 13.75 lakh sanctioned AWCs/ mini-AWCs in the country. State-wise details are as given below.

S. No.	State/UT	No. of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs)/ Mini-AWCs
		Sanctioned	Operational
1	Andhra Pradesh	91307	90618
2	Arunachal Pradesh	6225	6028
3	Assam	62153	62153
4	Bihar	91968	91677
5	Chhattisgarh	64390	49405
6	Goa	1262	1262
7	Gujarat	52137	50226
8	Haryana	25962	25570
9	Himachal Pradesh	18925	18885
10	Jammu & Kashmir	28577	28577
11	Jharkhand	38432	38432
12	Karnataka	64518	64518
13	Kerala	33115	33115
14	Madhya Pradesh	92230	91138
15	Maharashtra	110486	106931
16	Manipur	11510	9883
17	Meghalaya	5864	5156
18	Mizoram	2244	1980
19	Nagaland	3980	3455
20	Orissa	72873	71306
21	Punjab	26656	26656
22	Rajasthan	61119	61100
23	Sikkim	1308	1233
24	Tamil Nadu	55542	54439
25	Tripura	9911	9911
26	Uttar Pradesh	188259	187659
27	Uttarakhand	23159	18921
28	West Bengal	117170	116390
29	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	720	708
30	Chandigarh	500	500
31	Delhi	11150	10897
32	Dadra & N Haveli	281	267
33	Daman & Diu	107	107
34	Lakshadweep	107	107
35	Puducherry	788	788
	All India	1374935	1339998

*Based on State level consolidated report sent by State Government and information sent in templates by State Governments/ UT Administration.

The aims and objectives of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme including AWCs are:

i) to improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years;

ii) to lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child; iii) to reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school dropout;

iv) to achieve effective co-ordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development; and

v) to enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.

The implementation of ICDS Scheme is continuously monitored through prescribed monthly & annual progress reports, reviews, as well as, supervision visits etc. Based on the inputs and feedback received, State Governments/ UT Administrations are addressed through letters and review meetings to address the deficiencies and to improve the implementation of the Scheme including operationalisation and functioning of the AWCs.

In order to improve the performance of ICDS, Government of India has introduced 5-tier monitoring & review mechanism at different levels (National/ State/ District/ Block and Anganwadi level) by involving public representatives for monitoring the status of Anganwadi Centres. Government has issued guidelines on 31.03.2011 for Constitution of Monitoring & Review Committees at different levels in implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.  The Anganwadi level Committee reviews take/ suggest actions to improve delivery of services including functioning of AWC.  As per available information, 30 States have constituted the Monitoring and Supervision Committee at all level.

This was stated by Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.

Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)