Mother Dairy to provide milk to 3,300 girls in government schools in Noida

As per the National Health Survey, 2015-16, about 36% of our children are undernourished.

Around 3,300 girls in Noida will now receive a glass of milk every day in their school hours thanks to an initiative by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Foundation for Nutrition and its sister concern, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Limited (MDFVPL).

‘Gift milk’ campaign launched by Mother Dairy in three Noida schools. (HT Photo)

Girls in government senior secondary schools in sectors 44, 51 and Sadarpur will now receive 200 ml of milk every day from Mother Dairy under the ‘Gift Milk’ programme. Mother Dairy will be the donor as well as the implementing agency.

The initiative was launched on Friday morning in Noida at Government Balika Inter College in Sector 51 when representatives of both NDDB and MDFVPL distributed milk packets among girl students.

“Children are the foundation of a strong, vibrant and dynamic India. As lack of adequate nutrition creates long lasting, often permanent physiological changes in children; meeting their nutritional needs in early formative years becomes important. We have embarked on a noble mission of providing milk and milk products to government school children through Mother Dairy,” Dilip Rath, chairman, NDDB, said.

Explaining the idea behind the Gift Milk initiative, Rath said that his organisation will also serve milk in three Delhi schools as well.

“Presently, we are providing Giftmilk to about 3,500 students, covering 7 schools in Gujarat, Telengana and Delhi. So far NFN has distributed about 6 lakh units of milk among government school children. Today, NFN added 6 government girls’ schools, having around 6,000 students, in Noida and Delhi under the ‘Giftmilk’ programme. Mother Dairy will be providing 200 ml flavoured milk to the students on all working days,” Rath said.

However, it is not clear for how long the organisation intends to provide milk for free to the students.

“We have just started this initiative in Noida schools and we will provide milk on all working days. However, we have not yet decided till when,” said a representative of NDDB.