Bombay High Court Criticizes Govt Over Delay In Providing Functional Smartphones With Poshan Tracker App To Anganwadi Workers

A division bench of Justice GS Patel and Neela Gokhale said –

“The process must be corrected, and that correction begins by procuring, taking delivery, and distributing working mobile phones or handsets compatible with the POSHAN Tracker app. Both Governments are advised to prioritise this matter, not leave it to the Court, and not to precipitate a situation where the Court is compelled to fix a timeline for this to be completed”.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by various Anganwadi workers unions seeking replacement of non-functional mobile phones given to Anganwadi workers in Maharashtra for the purpose of entering data on the POSHAN Tracker application. Another connected writ petition filed in 2021 seeks changes in the POSHAN Tracker app to enable Anganwadi workers to enter data in Marathi.

The State government submitted a communication dated June 16, 2023, from the Women and Child Development Department, Maharashtra to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

According to this communication, no incentive was paid to Anganwadi workers in 2022-23 as they did not enter data due to non-functional mobile phones. The court said that this situation is absurd and entirely unacceptable.

“Paragraph 3 of the communication that Mrs Purav (AGP for the State) has tendered itself shows the sheer absurdity of the present situation. Anganwadi workers have non-functional handsets or mobile phones. Because they are non-functional, Anganwadi workers cannot enter data. Because they cannot enter data (and that is because the handsets are non-functional), the Anganwadi workers are not given an incentive. And if all this is not bad enough and the stuff of a bureaucratic nightmare, we are now told that no provision has been made for subsequent years for any form of incentive to Anganwadi workers”, the court noted.

In the aforementioned communication, the State has requested the Centre to allow unspent amount of Rs. 43,17,27,628/- under the POSHAN Abhiyan Scheme to be utilised for the purchase of mobile phones for Anganwadi workers. The State also requested the Centre to sanction additional Central share of Rs. 25,18,77,524/- for the purchase of mobile phones.

The court pulled up the Central Government for keeping this request pending. “We do not know what the view of the Central Government is. These Departments have email addresses and we see no reason why this request should be pending for so long given that the matter itself is not new. It has been before us since 2022 or even earlier”, the court said.

The court directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development to instruct its advocates regarding the State government's request by Friday, June 23, 2023.

The court took on record the State government’s statement that administrative approval has been obtained for the tender for the purchase of mobile phones according to the 2016 procurement policy. However, the funding will need to be in place before this process can be completed, the court noted.

 The court listed the matter on Friday, 23rd June 2023 for further hearing.

The Case

Under central government’s POSHAN Abhiyan Mission, Anganwadi Centre reports are to be digitized and the Anganwadi workers have to enter daily logs of their work on the POSHAN Tracker Application.

According to the writ petition, the mobile phones given to the workers for this purpose in 2018 have become obsolete but the Anganwadi workers are still threatened with disciplinary action for not submitting digital reports.

Therefore, the petition prays for directions to the government to provide suitable devices to the Anganwadi workers and to refrain from compelling the workers to submit digital reports until suitable devices are provided.

The petitioners have also sought directions to the Centre and State against withholding or deducting remuneration and initiating disciplinary action against the workers during the pendency of the petition.

In April, the court stayed all show cause notices issued to the Anganwadi workers for not entering data on the app and directed the State and Centre to distribute the required mobile phones to all Anganwadi workers in Maharashtra within four months.

Case no. – Writ Petition (ST) No.1355 of 2023

Case Title – Anganwadi Karmachari Sanghatana & Ors v. ICDS Commissionerate & Anr