Nourishment among pregnant women is of vital importance, as their health impacts the health of the child. A healthy mother births a healthy child, and looking after the mother considerably reduces the chances of child mortality. In such matters, healthcare and nourishment become crucial, and therefore, the Government of Haryana has launched the Haryana Mukhyamantri Doodh Uphar Yojana 2020-21. This scheme will aim to offer nourishment to children, pregnant women and lactating mothers – a target group that has maximum nutritional needs

About the Mukhyamantri Doodh Uphar Yojana

The main purpose of the Haryana Mukhyamantri Doodh Uphar Yojana is to improve the nutrition of kids, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. Each beneficiary of the scheme is entitled to receive 200ml fortified milk for free. These beneficiaries include newborns and pregnant or lactating women as well.

Malnutrition, as an issue, has plagued the rural areas of Haryana for far too long. In the wake of increased mortality among newborns, which was proving to be a growing concern for the residents of Haryana, the state government decided to offer its assistance. The beneficiaries of the scheme will be offered fortified milk 6 days a week.

Prime beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Doodh Uphar Yojana

The prime beneficiaries of the scheme would be children within the age group of 1-6 years. Roughly, 9.03 lakh children in Haryana are speculated to benefit from the scheme. Furthermore, around 2.95 lakh pregnant women and lactating women are also in line to benefit from the implementation of the scheme, as they would be in most need of the added nutrition, which food alone cannot offer in most cases. This fortified milk will be distributed across the state of Haryana for a minimum of 300 days a year.

What are the eligibility criteria to avail of the fortified milk under the implementation of the scheme?

The eligibility criteria for the implementation of the scheme stands to be as follows:

  1. The applicant must be a permanent resident of Haryana and she should procure proof stating the same, as and when demanded.
  2. She must belong to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.
  3. The maximum age of the woman must not exceed more than 45 years.
  4. The minimum age of the girl must not be less than 10 years.

Summing it up

Being a mother without apt nutrition is a task that exceeds imagination. Birthing is a complicated procedure that needs several variables to fall in the right place and that cannot happen if the mother is malnourished. In order to ensure newborns are healthy and mothers are fit enough to endure childbirth, the government of Haryana launched the scheme.

The fortified milk will be offered to beneficiaries in several flavours as well, so as to appease the taste buds of mothers and children alike. With the nutrition fortified milk offers complementing their diet, mothers and newborns can look at a healthier future with more assurance than ever before.