Facial Recognition for POSHAN Abhiyan

Published on 04 Nov 2025

• Government has officially made facial recognition system (FRS) mandatory for pregnant and lactating women to access take-home rations (THR) under the scheme POSHAN Abhiyaan

• POSHAN Abhiyaan, or National Nutrition Mission, was launched at Junjhunu, Rajasthan in 2018.

• It is a multi-ministerial “Jan Andolan (people’s movement) with the Ministry of Women and Child Development as nodal ministry.

• Early childhood education and Hot Cooked Meals are provided for children aged 3-6 years who attend the Anganwadi Centres.

• The five key targets are:

1. Reduce Stunting: in children (0-6 years) by 6% (2% per annum).

2. Reduce Undernutrition: (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years) by 6% (2% per annum).

3. Reduce Anemia: among young children (6-59 months) by 9% (3% per annum).

4. Reduce Anemia: among women and adolescent girls (15-49 years) by 9% (3% per annum).

5. Reduce Low Birth Weight: (LBW) by 6% (2% per annum)
   
   

• A key feature is the use of the Poshan Tracker, a mobile application used by Anganwadi workers (AWW) to monitor and track the health of beneficiaries.

• It's designed to improve nutritional outcomes by leveraging and strengthening the services already provided by Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which has been in place since 1975.

Keywords:

Facial Recognition for POSHAN Abhiyan facial recognition system POSHAN Abhiyaan National Nutrition Mission Ministry of Women and Child Development Anemia Undernutrition Poshan Tracker Anganwadi workers Health Integrated Child Development Service