Gujarat adds 6.4L beneficiaries to Poshan Tracker app in 2 months

Gandhinagar: The state women and child development department (WCD) launched an intensive drive to include intended beneficiaries under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), adding 6.45 lakh new beneficiaries to the Poshan Tracker during the two months between Nov 19, 2025 and Jan 19, 2026. Poshan Tracker is a mobile-based digital platform launched by the Union WCD ministry to provide a 360-degree view of anganwadi operations and beneficiary services. It aims to improve the delivery of services, including supplementary nutrition, growth monitoring, health check-ups, and home visits.According to sources in the state WCD, each district was assigned specific targets, and approximately 6.5 lakh new beneficiaries were added over just two months. "In their gap reports and action taken reports, most districts indicated that they will endeavour to cover all eligible beneficiaries by the end of Jan, while a few districts projected completion by Feb or March," a source in the department said.Between Nov 19, 2025 and Jan 19, 2026, 1,36,655 pregnant women and lactating mothers were added to the Aadhaar-verified Poshan Tracker. During the same period, 5,08,492 children aged 6 years or less were added to the Poshan Tracker, bringing the total to 6,45,147 new beneficiaries in two months."These approximately 6.5 lakh intended beneficiaries were outside the ICDS net. Around six lakh more remain to be added. With the intensive drive on, the state will perform much better on the infant mortality rate index and maternal health index," a source said.ICDS has more than 53,000 anganwadi centres across the state, serving approximately 47 lakh beneficiaries, which constitutes nearly 7% of Gujarat's population. However, regular reviews identified an opportunity to increase the number of beneficiaries on Poshan Tracker."Under the guidance of CS, a series of review meetings were conducted, and districts were instructed to initiate a special enrolment drive from Nov 19, 2025, which is still ongoing," officials said, adding that districts were directed to enrol all newly eligible beneficiaries and submit gap reports along with action taken reports.