New Delhi: The Ministry of Women and Child Development has directed all states and Union Territories to implement mandatory face recognition-based authentication for take-home ration distribution and child attendance tracking at Anganwadi centres starting July 1.
As per a letter issued by the ministry last month, the face recognition feature is now integrated into beneficiary profiles within the POSHAN Tracker application. Beneficiaries will also be able to self-register using the citizen module for e-KYC and photo capture.
Starting July 1, marking attendance and recording hot cooked meal consumption for children aged 3–6 years will become compulsory at all Anganwadi centres. The same date marks the enforcement of face recognition-based authentication for take-home ration distribution.
The ministry stated the initiative is intended to ensure last-mile delivery and plug leakages in the nutrition service delivery system.
From August 1, face recognition will also be mandatory for new beneficiary registration. For pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls, e-KYC and Aadhaar-based facial recognition will be compulsory. In the case of children aged 0–6 years, the Aadhaar number of a parent or guardian will be required.
For children in the 3–6 year age group, a photograph will be captured using liveliness detection, which will later be used during service delivery. Children transitioning from the 0–3 year category to the older bracket will also need to update their photographs accordingly.
The ministry has requested that state officials and field workers assist with beneficiary onboarding and encourage updating of Aadhaar-linked mobile numbers and photographs to ensure smooth authentication.
This directive follows earlier communications from the ministry dated November 12, 2024, and March 5, 2025, outlining the phased rollout of the face authentication module under the POSHAN Tracker system.
In the March 5 communication, the ministry stated:
“This is also to bring to your notice that the ministry is considering revision in cost norms as announced in the Budget speech of the finance minister on February 1, 2025 and benefit of the same will be linked to the actual implementation of face recognition system by states/UTs.”
The ministry had also instructed that onboarding of registered beneficiaries be carried out in campaign mode, with a goal to ensure 100% onboarding by March 25, 2025.