Poshan tracker

In news– The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) has spent over Rs. 1,000 crore on its Poshan or Nutrition Tracker. However, the data is yet to be made public by the government.

About Poshan Tracker-

The Poshan Tracker, known as the ICDS-CAS (Integrated Child Development Services- Common Application Software) in its earlier avatar.
It was set up with the aim of tracking and improving various services delivered at anganwadis and to ensure nutritional management of beneficiaries.
Its purpose is to provide a 360-degree view of the activities of the Anganwadi Centre (AWC), service deliveries of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and complete beneficiary management for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children.
It is one of the key pillars of the Poshan Abhiyan or Nutrition Mission approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2017 with a financial outlay of Rs. 9,000 crore for three years.
It gives the MoWCD daily data from 12.3 lakh anganwadi centres, with 9.8 lakh beneficiaries, including children, in the age of six months to six years, as well as pregnant women and lactating mothers.
It records real-time data on malnourished and ‘severe acute malnourished’ children in each anganwadi.
On its Poshan Tracker website (https://poshantracker.in/), the government hosts a dashboard which provides only administrative details at the national, State and district level.
This includes total attendance, vaccinations, take-home ration delivered and hot cooked meals served for the past one month, past seven days, and today.
It neither allows an analysis of these services over a period of time nor does it share critical information — such as nutrition status of the beneficiaries — that researchers, economists and activists are most interested in.