Anganwadis shape the future. They are our responsibility

Community ownership cannot mean placing the entire burden of nutrition and early childhood care on the anganwadi worker.

Written by: Annpurna Devi

4 min readSep 14, 2026 06:18 AM IST First published on: Sep 14, 2026 at 06:18 AM IST

The Bharat of 2047 will be built by children who have not yet entered school. Their journey towards a healthy, confident and capable adulthood begins much earlier, most decisively in the first 1,000 days of life. For millions of Indian children and their mothers, that journey is supported by a familiar neighbourhood institution: The anganwadi.

Long before entering the classroom, children are weighed and measured at an anganwadi, get a warm meal and hear rhymes outside the home. Expectant parents also receive counselling. Today, 14 lakh anganwadi centres serve as the first point of contact between the citizens and the state, reaching over 8.9 crore children, women and adolescent girls. The 25.2 lakh anganwadi workers and helpers are drawn from the communities they serve. The anganwadi has always belonged to the neighbourhood.

This institution became the foundation of a national movement when Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched POSHAN Abhiyaan in March 2018. The ninth Rashtriya Poshan Maah began on September 9 with the theme “Hamari Anganwadi, Hamari Jimmedari”. The government’s commitment to providing quality services is unwavering. But an anganwadi centre truly flourishes when the community embraces it as its own. A Viksit Bharat can be built only through sabka prayas (everyone’s effort). Nutrition cannot be seen only as a government service.

Community ownership has too often remained an appeal. This year, it becomes an institution. Anganwadi management committees bring parents, panchayat representatives and self-help groups into the centre to ensure every eligible child is reached. Social audits enable communities to review services, verify entitlements and record findings. Accountability becomes verification from within by the families served.

Mothers are at the heart of this process. The menu board of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) displays daily entitlements for the hot meals and take-home rations. When a mother knows what her child is entitled to, transparency becomes a habit. The community becomes an informed partner in ensuring quality. During Poshan Maah 2026, committees, social audits and menu boards are being activated, alongside Tithi Bhoj, tasting sessions and recipe demonstrations.

A Suposhit Bharat requires balanced meals — cereals and millets, pulses, nuts and seeds, milk and milk products, eggs, fruits and green vegetables. The Comprehensive Guidelines for SNP 2026, released in July, define hot cooked meals and reinforce micronutrient norms under the National Food Security Act, 2013.

The second is early learning. What a child eats and learns are deeply connected. Anganwadi workers track 34 developmental milestones in a child’s first three years. The Navchetna and Aadharshila curricula carry nutrition and care into school readiness.

The third begins before the child arrives. A mother’s nutrition in pregnancy shapes her child’s start in life. This Poshan Maah marks 10 years of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, reflecting the Prime Minister’s conviction that no woman should have to choose between earnings and health. A decade on, 4.65 crore beneficiaries have received Rs 21,511 crore directly into their accounts. Strengthened under Mission Shakti, it provides an additional benefit for a second girl child. The Economic Survey 2025-26 makes clear that such a transfer achieves its full purpose when it travels with counselling that enables informed decisions within the household. Reviewing Rajasthan’s Cash Plus model, which paired these transfers with sustained behaviour change communication, it records that the share of women spending the benefit on food rose from 30 per cent to 89 per cent, and that myths surrounding maternal nutrition receded as husbands and families were drawn into the conversation. Partnership grows around anganwadis because a mother’s nutrition was never hers to secure alone.

Community ownership cannot mean placing the entire burden of nutrition and early childhood care on the anganwadi worker. It must mean respecting, supporting and strengthening her. This September, I call upon every citizen to visit at least one anganwadi centre in their locality. Speak to the worker, read the menu board and ask how you can support them. Fathers, grandparents, panchayats and self-help groups all have a role. The children being weighed at anganwadis this September will be in their twenties when India completes a century of Independence. The health and confidence they carry into that year are being shaped today. When every community takes responsibility for its anganwadi, Bharat takes responsibility for every child’s future.

The writer is Union Minister for Women and Child Development