Chandigarh, September 15, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Punjab Government has undertaken a major overhaul of the supplementary nutrition system across 27,000 Anganwadi Centres, replacing packaged “ready-to-cook” meals with fresh, hot-cooked food for around 1.1 lakh children aged three to six years.
The reforms have been introduced by the Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development with the stated objective of improving nutrition, food safety and community participation in Anganwadi services.
Under the revised system, meal preparation has been decentralised, enabling Anganwadi Workers to procure fresh, locally available ingredients and prepare meals on site. The government is providing resources, funds and flexibility to facilitate the new arrangement.
The department said freshly prepared food would allow ingredients to be adapted to local dietary preferences while reducing dependence on packaged products with extended shelf lives and preservatives.
The nutrition system for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children aged six months to three years has also been redesigned. Take Home Ration, which was earlier distributed once every 45 days, will now be provided every 15 days. According to the government, the shorter cycle will also enable more frequent interaction between beneficiaries and Anganwadi Workers for nutrition counselling and guidance on consumption.
Another key component is the establishment of local production units in every district. The government said these units would operate under a decentralised model and create local employment.
The department has also made community participation mandatory in the management committees of the production units. Direct beneficiaries, Anganwadi Workers and mothers of children enrolled at Anganwadi Centres will be represented on these committees, giving local communities a role in overseeing the production and supply of nutrition products.
Before approving the Take Home Ration products, the government said recipes and ingredients submitted by bidders underwent laboratory testing. For the first time under the initiative, the recipes were also subjected to taste-testing sessions involving children at Anganwadi Centres, with the objective of ensuring that the final products were both nutritionally appropriate and acceptable to children.
The government acknowledged that the transition had faced delays, primarily because of the extensive recipe-testing process and the large number of submissions received from bidders.
The tendering process for Bathinda district was completed on Tuesday, while the process for the remaining districts is expected to be completed within the coming week.
Women and Child Development Minister Dr Baljit Kaur said the reforms placed Punjab at the forefront of Anganwadi nutrition reform by emphasising freshness, accountability and community participation.
“With these reforms, Punjab has positioned itself as a national leader in Anganwadi nutrition reform, prioritising freshness, accountability, and community participation over convenience,” she said, adding that the Bhagwant Mann government was committed to ensuring that children, pregnant women and lactating mothers reached through the Anganwadi network receive food that is nutritious, safe and trusted by the communities it serves.
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