- By Sahelee Rakshit
- Wed, 02 Apr 2025 08:30 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Poshan Abhiyaan App 2025: Recognizing that the mission to eliminate malnutrition in India cannot be achieved alone, the Ministry of Women and Child Development launched Poshan Abhiyan in 2018. This initiative aims to foster collaboration and convergence to promote positive health and nutrition practices, focusing on the most vulnerable sections of society. In 2022, the second phase of Poshan Abhiyaan was renamed ‘Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.’ The Mission is currently operating through nearly 14 lakh Anganwadi Centres spread across 772 districts in 36 States/Union Territories.
As the country prepares to commence its 7th National Poshan Pakhwada from 8 April 2025, the renewed strategy looks at consolidating gains made since the launch of Poshan Abhiyaan while introducing new elements in digital technology and strengthening AWC infrastructure.
As India is rapidly advancing use of technology in both private and public systems, the Poshan Tracker, a digital app introduced in 2021 has shifted the needle from manual-based reporting to using technology for real time monitoring as well as reporting and planning. It has brought Anganwadi Centres under the ambit of country’s digital ecosystem. Over the years, the digital application has demonstrated how a government system can use technology to prioritise services to targeted population groups at scale.
The addition of child growth tracking curves and pregnancy body mass index in the tracker has enabled easy comprehension of children's growth patterns and identifying pregnant women who may be nutritionally at risk. The data is being used to identify malnutrition hotspots for prioritising actions. The tracker also captures information related to opening of Anganwadi centres, pre-school attendance, infrastructure details, etc.
Over the years, the Poshan Tracker app has been continuously upgraded with new features, reports, and enhancements. One of the most recent additions is the introduction of a new interface for beneficiaries known as beneficiary module. The latest module allows citizens to apply for registration to access Anganwadi Services at the nearest Anganwadi Centre. It also helps existing beneficiaries view the services accessed by them in the Anganwadi.
The module provides an opportunity to those who may be interested in availing Anganwadi services but are not able to do so due to personal reasons. The user-friendly application allows beneficiaries to apply for registration in the Poshan Tracker application by selecting the Anganwadi Centre through simple steps.
Roli Verma, a pregnant woman from Lucknow heard about Poshan Tracker app and registered herself. “Anganwadi didi accepted my registration. Now I can avail and access all services from the centre” she said.
Sangeeta Londhe, Deputy Commissioner Women and Child Welfare, Maharashtra, said, “Poshan Tracker application by Government of India has made it easy for us to monitor many things from the state level. The beneficiary module will benefit us in urban areas and in places where Anganwadi centre is catering to a large population as it will allow the beneficiaries to register themselves even if they are somehow missed by Anganwadi worker. The tracking of services and information will also help us at state level in decision making for programme strengthening.”
The public dashboard on Poshan Tracker shows nearly 10 crore beneficiaries registered under the ICDS Scheme. Since the introduction of Beneficiary registration module, more than 25 lakh individuals have downloaded the Poshan Tracker application and approximately 40,000 citizens have used the application/ web interface to apply for registration.
During this Poshan Pakhwada, the focus will be to further increase beneficiary awareness together with capacity building of functionaries on the processes involved to increase beneficiary registration and how they can offer their support to families who needs assistance in doing so.
“The beneficiary module in the Poshan Tracker application aspires to engage and empower parents and caregivers to adopt positive nutrition and health seeking behaviours. As India marks 50 years of Integrated Child Development Services, the beneficiary module is a step to leverage the expanding digital literacy amongst the population to bring services closer to them”, said Dr Richa Singh Pandey, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF India.
As the country gears to celebrate another Poshan Pakhwada, it will be important to continue investing in approaches and measures which can help in improving awareness, thereby leading to greater acceptance and adoption of essential nutrition practices and behaviours.