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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT

JODHPUR

D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 15262/2022

Shankar Lal Meena S/o Shri Devji Meena, Aged About 38 Years,

Bor Phalan, Saathpur, Gadhwas, District Pratapgarh (Rajasthan).

Pan No. Hmapm5553D Mob No. 8290121547

----Petitioner

Versus

1. Union Of India, Through Secretary, Ministry Of Women

And Child Development, Govt. Of India, New Delhi.

2. Director, Ministry Of Women And Child Development,

Govt. Of India, New Delhi.

3. Secretary, Ministry Of Women And Child Development,

Govt. Of Rajasthan, Secretariat, Jaipur.

4. Director, Integrated Child Development Services,

Rajasthan, 2 Jal Path, Gandhi Nagar, Jaipur.

5. Secretary, Department Of Rural Development And

Panchayati Raj, Govt. Of Rajasthan, Secretariat, Jaipur.

6. District Collector, Colletoriate Premises, District

Pratapgarh (Rajasthan).

----Respondents

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Om Prakash Kumawat

For Respondent(s) : Dr. Praveen Khandelwal, AAG with

Mr. Dinesh Mehra & Mr. Sunil Dutt

Mr. Vivek Shrimali with

Ms. Yukti Joshi

HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI

HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE NUPUR BHATI

Order

12/05/2026

1. Learned counsel for the petitioner has shown certain

photographs demonstrating that several Anganwadi Centres in the

core tribal areas of District Pratapgarh are suffering from serious

infrastructural deficiencies. He submits that the State Government

ought to act expeditiously to ensure effective functioning of the

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Anganwadi Centres and to provide meaningful services to the

beneficiaries.

2. Mr. Vivek Shrimali, learned counsel appearing for the Union

of India, submits that pursuant to the directions issued by this

Court, the Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child

Development, New Delhi dated April, 2026 has taken a specific

stand regarding Anganwadi Workers, which reads as under:

“No. CD-I-11/1/2024-CD-1

Government of India

Ministry of Women and Child Development

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001

Dated: April 2026

To,

The Secretary,

Department of Women & Child Development,

Government of Rajasthan, 1135, Main Building.

Govt. Secretariat, Jaipur – 302015

Subject: State run Anganwadi Centres – reg.

Madam,

I am directed to refer to letter no.

F.3(2)(70)/NNM/ICDS/Poshan Tracker/2021/Part-II dated

28.03.2025 (copy enclosed) received from the State of

Rajasthan regarding approval of 1000 new AWCs by the

State from State funds and that the same have become

operational since December 2024. It has further been

requested by the State that these AWCs may be included and

mapped in the Poshan Tracker App for the purpose of

monitoring.’

2. The matter has been examined. The Ministry appreciates

the proactive steps undertaken by the Government of

Rajasthan to strengthen early childhood care and nutrition

services. The commitment of the State to expand Anganwadi

outreach reflects an earnest endeavour to ensure

comprehensive coverage of beneficiaries in underserved

habitations. At the same time, Ministry also wishes to draw

attention to the current operational scenario of the

sanctioned Anganwadi Centres in Rajasthan under Mission

Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0

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3. It may be noted that the maximum ceiling of in terms of

the number of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) which can be

sanctioned to States/UTs under Mission Saksham Anganwadi

and Poshan 2.0 currently remains fixed at 14 lakh under

7075 Projects in India. The corresponding number for

Rajasthan is 62010. In addition to this, 186 AWCs have been

sanctioned to Rajasthan under PM JANMAN and DA-JGUA,

taking the total sanctioned number for Rajasthan to 62196.

As such, the Poshan Tracker App should reflect this number

only.

4. Further, on analysing Poshan Tracker data for last six

months, out of 62,196 AWCs sanctioned to the State of

Rajasthan, 137 AWCs on an average reflected zero

beneficiaries and 210 AWCs recorded zero days of opening.

Fu