- Why in news
- On 23 March 2026, the Minister of State for Women and Child Development told the Lok Sabha how the ministry's schemes are grouped under three missions: Shakti, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, and Vatsalya.
- What it is
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development places its Centrally Sponsored Schemes under three verticals. Mission Shakti covers women's safety and empowerment, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 covers nutrition and health, and Mission Vatsalya covers child protection. The 15th Finance Commission cycle saw several older schemes merged into these missions.
- Mission Shakti structure
- It has two sub-schemes: Sambal for safety and security, and Samarthya for empowerment of women.
- Sambal components
- Sambal includes One Stop Centres, Women Helpline, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Nari Adalat.
- Samarthya components
- Samarthya includes PMMVY, Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna and SANKALP: HEW.
- Six services under Poshan 2.0
- Supplementary Nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition and health education, immunization, health check-up and referral. The last three are delivered through the National Health Mission and public health infrastructure.
- Mission Vatsalya origin
- It is the erstwhile Integrated Child Protection Scheme, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented through States/UTs for children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law.
- SANKALP: HEW role
- It works as the Project Monitoring Unit for all components of Mission Shakti and as a single-window system for women.
- Poshan 2.0 merges schemes
- Anganwadi Services, POSHAN Abhiyaan and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls were reorganised into three sub-verticals: nutrition support, early childhood care and education, and Anganwadi infrastructure.
- Mission Shakti verticals
- Sambal covers safety and security, with One Stop Centre, Women Helpline, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Nari Adalat. Samarthya covers empowerment, with Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, PMMVY, Palna and SANKALP: HEW.
- Mission Vatsalya
- It includes the Integrated Child Protection Scheme. About 82,005 children are in institutional care across 3799 Child Care Institutes.
Don’t confuse with Mission Poshan 2.0 vs Poshan Abhiyaan: Poshan Abhiyaan was one of the schemes reorganised into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, so it is not the same thing.
Don’t confuse with Samagra Shiksha vs the three WCD missions: Samagra Shiksha is run by the Department of School Education and Literacy, not the Women and Child Development ministry.
Don’t confuse with Sambal vs Samarthya: Sambal deals with safety and security (OSC, Women Helpline, BBBP, Nari Adalat). Samarthya deals with empowerment (Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, PMMVY, Palna, SANKALP: HEW).
Don’t confuse with Poshan 2.0 vs POSHAN Abhiyaan: POSHAN Abhiyaan is now one of the schemes merged into the wider Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 mission.
Schemes: 52 Prelims questions since 2013, 10 in Prelims 2026 alone. They test features, the period and who funds it. In Mains, 33 news-triggered questions, mostly GS3.
Why it matters
- Grouping many schemes into three missions improves convergence and monitoring across levels of government.
- Umbrella missions reduce overlap between schemes and ease monitoring of nutrition, safety and child protection outcomes.
- Gender budgeting makes visible how much of public spending reaches women and girls across ministries.
Problems
- Many components are demand driven and depend on State capacity, which can cause uneven delivery.
- Gender Budget figures count allocations, not outcomes, and many ministries report small shares.
- Large beneficiary numbers do not show quality of nutrition, services or institutional care.
Way forward
- Use the SANKALP: HEW hubs to strengthen convergence and help women reach entitlements.
- Link gender budget allocations to measurable outcomes and regular audits.
- Strengthen Anganwadi infrastructure and convergence among the three missions.
Put in your answer
Mission Shakti convergence: Mission Shakti aims at improving convergence across Ministries and levels of governance, with SANKALP: HEW acting as a single window.
Reach of Mission Shakti: About 1.11 crore women had been assisted through OSCs and Women Helpline by 31 January 2026.
- 2016Mains GS3 · Q2Requirements and status of gender budgeting in India, for women's empowerment
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UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
Prelims practice · Single answer
Ours, not from a UPSC paper
Consider the following statements about the schemes of the Ministry of Women and Child Development: 1. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is a component of the Sambal sub-scheme of Mission Shakti. 2. SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women functions as the Project Monitoring Unit for all components of Mission Shakti. 3. Immunization, health check-up and referral services under Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 are provided through the National Health Mission and public health infrastructure. 4. Mission Vatsalya is the erstwhile Child Protection Services Scheme (ICPS). How many of the statements given above are correct?
How many of the statements given above are correct?
True or false?
1 of 5
Statements the way Prelims prints them. Say first, then see the fact.
1.Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes, Sambal for safety and security and Samarthya for empowerment of women.
True. Sambal handles safety and security; Samarthya handles empowerment.
2.Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is a component of the Sambal sub-scheme.
False. PMMVY is a component of Samarthya, the empowerment sub-scheme.
3.One Stop Centres and Women Helpline are components of Sambal.
True. Sambal includes OSCs, Women Helpline, BBBP and Nari Adalat.
4.SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women functions as the Project Monitoring Unit for all components of Mission Shakti.
True. HEW is the PMU and single-window system for Mission Shakti.
5.Mission Vatsalya is the successor of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme.
True. Mission Vatsalya is the erstwhile ICPS.
Written by us from the release, not by UPSC; checked by a second model.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.