Gujarat’s Kheda district is witnessing enthusiastic community participation in its innovative nutrition initiative, “Gaam No Nirdhar, Sahkaare Sakar,” launched on November 14 to combat child malnutrition through collective action.

Spearheaded by District Collector Amit Prakash Yadav and supported by Amul Dairy, the campaign encourages dairy farmers to voluntarily donate small quantities of milk each day for undernourished children enrolled in anganwadis.

Awareness meetings have already been held with milk cooperatives in Matar, Nadiad, Vaso, Mahemdavad and Kathlal, where local MLAs and Amul officials have urged villagers to strengthen the drive.

At village dairy centres, contributing farmers set aside 10 ml, 30 ml, 50 ml or more into a dedicated container known as the ‘Aashirwad Patra’. The collected milk is distributed daily to malnourished children by anganwadi workers, providing vital nutritional support to some of the district’s most vulnerable.

Residents are also being encouraged to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and festivals by donating nutritious items -- such as jaggery, pulses, peanuts and dates -- to their nearest anganwadi.

“Malnutrition is a challenge even more complex than cancer,” Collector Yadav told villagers, stressing that child nutrition must be treated as a shared social responsibility.

He appealed for full cooperation with anganwadi workers and urged government employees to participate to set an example.

District Development Officer Jayant Kishore added that nurturing a healthy future generation is not just the responsibility of parents but of the entire community -- including village leaders, talatis and teachers.

So far, the campaign has collected 4,771.95 litres of milk, benefitting over 3,000 children every day. With strong backing from dairy cooperatives and villagers, the administration aims to expand the initiative across all talukas, moving Kheda closer to the goal of becoming a malnutrition-free district.

The district administration and Amul Dairy have expressed gratitude to villagers, milk unions and livestock farmers for their overwhelming support to this humanitarian effort.