Maharashtra govt and Tata Trusts collaborate to address malnutrition

In addition, Tata Trusts will also assist the State Government in curbing the menace of malnutrition in the Palghar district.

The LOI and MoU were signed in the presence of Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis.

Under the LOI, Tata Trusts, as implementing partner, will set up a Milk Fortification project at the Aarey Dairy in Worli, which belongs to the Ministry for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Development where milk containing vitamin A and D will be produced.

The dairy produces 20,000 liters of milk and this fortified milk will be known as ‘Aarey Bhushan’. The single toned milk containing a premix of vitamin A and D will be produced under the guidelines issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and will be available to consumers (middle class and people below the poverty line) through the Mumbai-based distribution chains of Aarey.  Tata Trusts will also be involved in the training of Aarey Dairies staff in Worli, Goregaon and Pune.

Tata Trusts signed a MoU to strengthen and digitize the Integrated Child Development System (ICDS) to bring about real time data in the state of Maharashtra.

Starting with Palghar district, a Technical Support Group will be established at the district level and information will be analyzed on the basis of data gathered. A malnutrition eradication programme created by Tata Trusts will be implemented in the district and observations will be noted at different levels.

To further empower the existing Anganwadis, Health day and Nutritional Diet Day will be celebrated monthly at the village level, to create training squads at the state and district level to percolate information regarding the nutritional diet programme. Tata Trusts will also assist in gathering social response to this initiative and in monitoring the beneficiaries of the Direct-To-Home diet scheme.