NewKerala.com

Key Points

The Union government is launching new guidelines tomorrow for co-locating anganwadi centers with schools. Ministers Annpurna Devi and Dharmendra Pradhan will oversee this initiative aimed at strengthening early childhood foundations. With over 2.9 lakh centers already integrated, these guidelines provide operational clarity for scaling up nationwide. This move supports Prime Minister Modi's vision for building human capital in Viksit Bharat.

Key Points: Modi Government Releases Anganwadi School Co-location Guidelines Tomorrow

  • Guidelines aim to scale up 2.9 lakh existing co-located centers nationwide
  • Focus on integrated early childhood care and education models
  • Provides operational clarity for states and UTs implementation
  • Addresses malnutrition through improved service delivery systems
2 min read

Guidelines for locating Anganwadis close to schools to be released tomorrow

Union Ministers Annpurna Devi and Dharmendra Pradhan to launch guidelines for integrating anganwadis with schools to strengthen early childhood education foundation.

"Building robust foundation for the human capital of Viksit Bharat - Official Statement"

New Delhi, Sep 2

The Union government will on Wednesday issue guidelines on co-location of anganwadi centres with schools, an effort aimed at building robust foundation for the human capital of 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India), an official said on Tuesday.

The guidelines will be issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in collaboration with the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education.

Union Women and Child Development Minister, Annpurna Devi, and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will be present on the occasion.

This initiative will mark a significant step towards implementing the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of building robust foundation for the human capital of 'Viksit Bharat', an official statement said.

The guidelines emphasise the importance of early childhood care and education through integrated models, including co-located anganwadis and schools.

With more than 2.9 lakh anganwadi centres already co-located with schools, these guidelines will provide much-needed operational clarity and enable states and Union Territories (UTs) to scale up the model effectively, the statement added.

The event will also be attended by senior officers from Ministry of Women and Child Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, representatives of both Departments from States/UTs, including anganwadi workers.

As per government data on Poshan Tracker Data till June 2025, West Bengal (1,18,680) and Uttar Pradesh (1,17,788) top the list of anganwadis which operated for at least 80 per cent of working days.

Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India.

The NFHS-5, conducted between 2019-21, showed that 35.5 per cent children showed signs of stunting, 32.1 per cent were underweight and 19.3 per cent suffering from wasting.

The projected population of all children up to five years in India for the year 2021 is around 13.75 crore (Source: population projections for India and states 2011-2036, National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare).

However, only 7.36 crore children up to five years were enrolled in anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women and Child Development as per the June 2025 data.

Nearly seven crore of these children were measured on growth parameters of height and weight.

Around 37.07 per cent of them have been found to be stunted, 15.93 have been found to be underweight and 5.46 per cent wasted.

- IANS

Share this article:

Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Good initiative but implementation is key. Many anganwadis lack basic facilities. Hope these guidelines address infrastructure needs and proper staffing. The malnutrition numbers are still concerning 😔
A
Arjun K
Finally! Integrated approach to education and nutrition. This will help bridge the gap between early childhood care and formal education. Great step for Viksit Bharat vision 🇮🇳
S
Sarah B
The statistics show we still have a long way to go - 37% stunted children is alarming. Hope this co-location model includes proper nutrition monitoring and regular health check-ups.
V
Vikram M
Excellent decision! This will ensure smoother transition from anganwadi to primary school. Also, older siblings can keep an eye on younger ones. Traditional Indian joint family concept in modern setup 👏
M
Meera T
Hope they provide adequate training to anganwadi workers and proper budgets. These women are the backbone of our early childhood system but often work with limited resources. They deserve better support!

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50