Policy Update
Samiksha Muskan
Background
Malnutrition remains one of India’s most persistent public health challenges. Despite decades of welfare provisioning through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), national surveys show only modest improvements in key child nutrition indicators. NFHS-5 or National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21) recorded stunting at 35.5%, wasting at 19.3%, and underweight at 32.1% among children under five, with many states showing stagnation or even deterioration compared to NFHS-4 (2015–16).
In this context, the Government of India launched POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) in March 2018, aiming to reduce stunting, underweight, and low birth weight by 2 percentage points per annum, and anaemia by 3 percentage points per annum among children, adolescent girls, and women. To strengthen monitoring and service delivery, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), in collaboration with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), rolled out the Poshan Tracker application in March 2021 under the umbrella of Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0.
The stated objective was to enable near real-time, beneficiary-level monitoring of nutrition service delivery and individual growth records across over 14 lakh Anganwadi Centres and nearly 9 crore beneficiaries. This complements, rather than replaces, periodic national surveys such as NFHS, which remain the authoritative source for population-level estimates of stunting, wasting, and underweight.
Functioning
Poshan Tracker is an ICT-based governance tool designed to capture, aggregate, and visualise data from the field level to national dashboards. Its core functions include:
- Beneficiary registration and profiling: Enrolment of pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children (0–6 years), linked with Aadhaar where possible.
- Growth monitoring: Poshan Tracker enables monthly recording of children’s height/length and weight, using WHO Child Growth Standards to compute z-scores and classify nutritional status across stunting, wasting, underweight, SAM/MAM, and overweight/obesity. This supports dynamic identification of malnutrition prevalence and last-mile tracking of nutrition service delivery.
- Service delivery tracking: Documentation of take-home rations (THR), hot cooked meals, supplementary nutrition, health check-ups, immunisation, and referral services.
- Anganwadi infrastructure and worker performance: Monitoring of AWC facilities, worker attendance, home visits (especially in the first 1,000 days), and training participation.
- Real-time dashboards: Web and mobile dashboards for officials at sector, block, district, state, and national levels to view coverage, service gaps, and malnutrition hotspots.
Technologically, Poshan Tracker combines a mobile app for Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) with centralized servers and analytics dashboards, supported by training modules and helpdesk mechanisms. It is positioned as the world’s largest mobile phone-based nutrition surveillance system, enabling transparent, granular, and timely data for evidence-based planning.
Performance
From a data infrastructure perspective, Poshan Tracker has achieved significant scale and functionality. By 2026, the system was monitoring over 14 lakh AWCs and nearly 9 crore beneficiaries, making it the largest real-time nutrition monitoring platform globally. Poshan Tracker enabled near real-time recording of child growth measurements and nutrition service delivery at the Anganwadi level, supporting timely identification of at-risk children and tracking of interventions. This complements, rather than replaces, periodic national surveys such as NFHS, which remain the authoritative source for population-level nutritional status.
Dashboards allow officials to identify malnutrition hotspots, track worker performance, and prioritise home visits and referrals. The World Bank (2024) notes that Poshan Tracker helps Anganwadi Workers prioritise home visits during the first 1,000 days of life and record growth data, enabling more targeted service delivery. World Bank project documentation further describes real-time dashboards on service delivery and nutritional status across administrative levels. NITI Aayog and PIB position Poshan Tracker as central to Mission Poshan 2.0’s converged, technology-enabled approach to nutrition governance.
However, performance on the ground has been uneven. Field studies and government evaluations note connectivity and device issues: poor network coverage in rural and tribal areas restricts real-time data entry, and many AWWs use incompatible or low-end smartphones. There are also digital literacy and training gaps, as AWWs report difficulties in navigating the app, updating data, and correcting errors, and some continue to maintain parallel manual registers. Aadhaar-linked authentication faces challenges due to migration, changing mobile numbers, and biometric failures, potentially excluding vulnerable beneficiaries. Data quality concerns, such as the inability to auto-update, the lack of delete options, and pressure to show targets met, raise questions about data accuracy and reliability.
Thus, while the system functions well in principle and in better-connected regions, its effective performance is constrained by last-mile digital and administrative bottlenecks.
Impact
The impact of Poshan Tracker must be assessed along two dimensions: governance and data transparency, and nutritional outcomes.
On governance and data transparency, Poshan Tracker has undeniably improved the visibility and granularity of nutrition data. Officials can now monitor AWC functionality and service delivery in near real time, identify districts and blocks with high prevalence of stunting, wasting, or anaemia, and track worker attendance, home visits, and training participation, enabling performance-based management.
The DMEO, NITI Aayog’s 2025 outcome evaluation of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 found that Poshan Tracker improved nutrition monitoring, ECCE tracking, authentication, and service-delivery efficiency, while acknowledging connectivity constraints and introducing offline functionality with five-day data sync. The World Bank and UNICEF view the platform as strengthening real-time monitoring and identification of malnutrition hotspots, though this reflects expert assessment of potential rather than proven outcome gains.
On nutritional outcomes, despite these advances, outcomes have shown only modest improvement, and in many states, stagnation or worsening. NFHS-5 (2019–21) shows national stunting at 35.5%, wasting at 19.3%, and underweight at 32.1%, with 19 of 36 states improving in stunting, but 12 states worsening and 5 unchanged between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. Wasting, a more sensitive indicator of acute malnutrition, saw 21 states improve, 13 worsen, and 2 unchanged, reflecting persistent volatility. In 2019–21, stunting exceeded 30% in 22 states, wasting exceeded 20% in 10 states, and underweight exceeded 30% in 12 states, indicating widespread high burden despite decades of ICDS and over five years of POSHAN Abhiyaan.
The CAG’s performance audit of POSHAN implementation in Odisha (Report No. 9 of 2025, for the year ended March 2023) identified gaps in beneficiary identification, irregular supply of Take-Home Rations, weak convergence with health departments, and inadequate use of monitoring data for corrective action. These are state-specific findings, not national conclusions. However, they illustrate the kind of last-mile implementation gaps that can limit the translation of better digital data into improved nutritional outcomes.
In short, Poshan Tracker has enhanced information availability, but outcome stagnation suggests that data alone cannot overcome deep-rooted implementation deficits in service delivery, supply chains, and inter-departmental coordination.
Emerging Issues
Several emerging issues complicate the Poshan Tracker narrative. First, there is a digital divide and exclusion: while urban and well-connected AWCs leverage the app effectively, remote and tribal areas face connectivity, device access, and digital literacy constraints, as acknowledged in the DMEO (NITI Aayog, 2025) outcome evaluation, risking a two-tier system. State- and district-level evidence on these gaps remains limited, and further location-specific assessment is needed.
Second, frontline workers face a growing burden: AWWs, already overburdened with multiple schemes, face additional pressure to maintain digital records, attend trainings, and meet data-entry targets, sometimes at the cost of direct service delivery.
Data privacy and security also raise concerns. Large-scale collection of beneficiary data, including biometric and health information, raises questions about data protection, consent, and potential misuse, especially in the absence of a fully operational data protection regime. There is also a risk of over-reliance on technology, where policymakers treat Poshan Tracker as a panacea, overlooking fundamental issues such as food security, maternal health, sanitation, and women’s empowerment, which are critical determinants of nutrition. Finally, incentive distortions may arise, as pressure to show improvements on dashboards may lead to data manipulation or a focus on “easy” indicators (e.g., registration counts) rather than hard outcomes (e.g., reduction in SAM cases).
These issues underscore the need to view Poshan Tracker as a tool, not a solution, and to embed it within broader systemic reforms.
Way Forward
To bridge the gap between real-time data and nutritional outcomes, the following steps are recommended:
- Strengthen last-mile digital infrastructure: Invest in reliable internet connectivity, provide compatible devices, and develop robust offline modes with seamless sync to ensure inclusive coverage, especially in tribal and remote areas.
- Simplify and stabilise the app: Address user-reported issues such as error correction, auto-updates, and language support; reduce unnecessary fields to lower AWW burden and improve data quality.
- Enhance training and support: Institutionalise continuous, hands-on training for AWWs and supervisors, with dedicated helpdesk support and peer learning networks to build digital confidence.
- Improve convergence and supply chains: The CAG audit (2025) notes weak convergence with health departments and irregular THR supply. Poshan Tracker already records THR distribution, health check-ups, and immunisation. Building on this, it is recommended that tracker data be used to trigger timely THR procurement and distribution; data-sharing with health departments be strengthened for antenatal care and immunisation; linkages with the Public Distribution System (PDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme be explored as a proposed reform, since these systems are not currently integrated with the Tracker.
- Link data to action: Move beyond dashboards to actionable alerts (e.g., SAM detection triggering immediate referral and follow-up), and embed data review in monthly district nutrition meetings with clear accountability.
- Protect data rights: Implement strong data governance frameworks, ensure informed consent, limit data access to authorised personnel, and conduct regular audits to prevent misuse.
- Address structural determinants: Complement digital monitoring with investments in maternal education, women’s labour force participation, sanitation, and diversified diets, recognising that nutrition is multi-sectoral.
Only by coupling real-time data with real-time action and systemic reforms can Poshan Tracker move from being a monitoring success to a nutrition transformation tool.
References
Digital India Corporation. (n.d.). Poshan Tracker. Government of India. https://dic.gov.in/projects/poshan-tracker/
Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, NITI Aayog. (2025). Outcome-based evaluation of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Press Information Bureau, Government of India. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2296047
Edinburgh Research Explorer. (n.d.). India’s Poshan Tracker [Academic paper]. University of Edinburgh. https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/426564058/PIIS2772368224000301.pdf
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), & ICF. (2021). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India report. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. http://rchiips.org/nfhs/
Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. (n.d.). Poshan Tracker. https://www.wcd.gov.in/public/offerings/poshan-tracker
Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. (n.d.). E-KYC and authentication issues in Poshan Tracker. https://wcd.gov.in/documents/uploaded/1770809678_O0n4tjO4oe.pdf
National e-Governance Division / NCEG. (2024). POSHAN Tracker: eGov Awards case study. Government of India. https://nceg.gov.in/assets/pdf/eGovAwardsFinal_3Sept2024.pdf
News18. (2025, April 7). Poshan Tracker finds malnutrition hotspots, shows govt’s smart use of tech: UNICEF nutrition expert. https://www.news18.com/india/poshan-tracker-finds-malnutrition-hotspots-shows-govts-smart-use-of-tech-unicef-nutrition-expert-interview-ws-bl-9289406.html
Press Information Bureau, Government of India. (2026, April). Mission Poshan 2.0: Strengthening India’s nutrition ecosystem. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/apr/doc2026414846701.pdf
Press Information Bureau, Government of India. (2026, July). Poshan Tracker: India’s real-time nutrition monitoring platform. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/jul/doc202678915801.pdf
Research on Child Health (RCH). (n.d.). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. http://rchiips.org/nfhs/
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India. (2025). Performance audit of implementation of POSHAN including Integrated Child Development Services and Mid-Day Meal for the year ended March 2023 (Report No. 9 of 2025). Government of India. https://cag.gov.in/en/audit-report/details/125073
The World Bank. (2024, September 19). Transforming India’s nationwide nutrition program: Poshan Tracker. https://www.worldbank.org/en/brief/2024/09/19/transforming-india-s-nationwide-nutrition-program
CGIAR. (n.d.). How is India doing on malnutrition and non-communicable diseases? https://cgspace.cgiar.org
Press Information Bureau, Government of India. (2026, July). Poshan Tracker: India’s real-time nutrition monitoring platform. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/jul/doc202678915801.pdf
Press Information Bureau, Government of India. (2026, July). Poshan Tracker: India’s real-time nutrition monitoring platform. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2026/jul/doc202678915801.pdf
Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. (2023). Protocol for management of malnutrition in children. https://wcd.gov.in/documents/uploaded/CMAM-Book-10-10-2023%20
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), & ICF. (2021). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India report. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. http://rchiips.org/nfhs/
Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. (n.d.). Poshan Tracker. https://www.wcd.gov.in/public/offerings/poshan-tracker
The World Bank. (2024, September 19). Transforming India’s nationwide nutrition program: Poshan Tracker. https://www.worldbank.org/en/brief/2024/09/19/transforming-india-s-nationwide-nutrition-program
NITI Aayog. (2022). POSHAN Abhiyaan monitoring report. Government of India. https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2022-09/Poshan-Abhiyaan-Monitoring.pdf
About the Contributor
Samiksha Muskan is a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI. She is currently pursuing a BA (Honors) with Research in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women at Delhi University.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to IMPRI for giving me this opportunity to write Policy Update and its intellectual encouraging environment. I would especially like to acknowledge Tanisha Hooda and Anooran Bordoloi for giving valuable feedback and review.
Disclaimer
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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