NEW DELHI: The central government has approved over 11,000 Anganwadi-cum-crèches under the Palna scheme, but only 1,761 have been made operational as of February 28 this year.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur, stated that the Palna scheme was introduced under the Samarthya vertical of the Umbrella Mission Shakti Scheme from April 1, 2022. The initiative aims to provide daycare facilities and protection to children across all states and Union Territories.
She emphasised that Anganwadi centres are the world’s largest childcare institutions, ensuring the delivery of care and nutrition services to children at the grassroots level.
“In a first-of-its-kind approach, the ministry has extended childcare services through Anganwadi-cum-Crèche under Palna, which is a centrally sponsored scheme,” she said.
“During the 15th Finance Cycle (i.e. up to FY 2025-26), a total of 17,000 Anganwadi-cum-crèches (AWCCs) have been envisioned for establishment under the Palna scheme. Proposals for their setup and operation are received from respective state governments and UT administrations, which also contribute their corresponding share for the scheme’s implementation,” she added.
“Till date, a total of 11,395 AWCCs have been approved by the ministry based on proposals received from various states and UTs. As of 28.02.2025, 1,761 AWCCs have been made operational across 19 states and UTs,” she stated.
Providing further details, she said 1,500 AWCCs were approved in Chhattisgarh, of which only 175 are operational.
Similarly, 1,024 were sanctioned for Jharkhand, but none have been made functional. The same is the case with Odisha, where all 1,000 approved AWCCs remain non-operational.
In Telangana, 1,033 were approved, but only eight are operational.
According to official data, Chandigarh has the best implementation record, with 200 out of 210 sanctioned AWCCs fully functional.
Haryana has the highest number of operational AWCCs at 297, followed by Mizoram and Chandigarh with 200 each. Other states where these centres are functional include Chhattisgarh (175), Karnataka (164), Nagaland (150), Tripura (94), Meghalaya (76), Bihar (65), and Uttarakhand (32).
Thakur noted that under Palna, an annual target is set during Programme Approval Board (PAB) meetings with state governments and UT administrations.
“It is emphasised that they send proposals for opening more Anganwadi-cum-crèches and operationalise them. Additionally, the ministry monitors the scheme’s implementation through meetings and virtual conferences with states and UTs at various levels,” she said.