Kendrapada: The Centre has released Rs 911.27 crore to Odisha during 2025-26 under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 for the implementation of anganwadi services, minister of state for women and child development Savitri Thakur informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, while replying to a question raised by MP Ajay Maken.The minister said that, in line with the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, nutrition and child development programmes were integrated under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. These include nutritional support for children below 6 years of age, pregnant women, adolescent girls aged 14 to 18 years, early childhood care and education for children aged 3 to 6 years, development of modern Saksham Anganwadis, Poshan Abhiyaan and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls.Under the mission, beneficiaries receive a package of six essential services through anganwadi centres across the country, which include supplementary nutrition, preschool non-formal education, nutrition and health education, immunisation, health checkups and referral services. The minister noted that immunisation, health checkups and referral services are provided through National Health Mission and the public health infrastructure, while all six services are made available to eligible registered beneficiaries, particularly children up to 6 years of age.Replying to another question by Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo, Thakur said 89 anganwadis were sanctioned for construction in the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups areas of Odisha under Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan. She added that states and Union territories were advised to mobilise resources for constructing anganwadi buildings through schemes such as member of parliament local area development scheme, rural infrastructure development fund, finance commission grants to panchayati raj institutions and multi-sectoral development programme of the ministry of minority affairs.The minister informed the House that under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, launched by the ministry of tribal affairs, 875 anganwadis were sanctioned for construction across tribal villages. It focuses on convergence, outreach and saturation of govt services in nearly 63,843 villages across the country. She said the ministries of women and child development and school education and literacy have directed states and Union territories to co-locate anganwadis functioning from rented premises with inadequate infrastructure in nearby primary schools wherever space is available.The implementation of the scheme rests with the respective state govts and Union territory administrations, while the Centre continues to monitor infrastructure development through regular engagements and video conferences to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services to beneficiaries.
