India to use AI for child growth monitoring, combat malnutrition: Anil Malik

• Indian government to roll out AI-based growth monitoring of children to track malnutrition, announced Anil Malik, Secretary, Women and Child Development.
• AI tools will be deployed at scale through digital recordings to monitor child growth and detect early signs of malnutrition.
• The initiative aims to improve real-time tracking and strengthen targeted interventions in nutrition programs, especially in large welfare networks like Anganwadi services.
• An AI-enabled chatbot will be introduced to assist Anganwadi workers with quick guidance on nutrition, health practices, and program implementation.
• The ministry is upgrading over 1.1 million smartphones provided to Anganwadi Workers under POSHAN Abhiyaan to 5G phones, signaling a shift towards technology-driven welfare administration.