09, January 2026, Anand: Shri Piyush
Goyal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, along with
Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, Hon’ble Union
Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Panchayati Raj, and
Smt Annpurna Devi, Hon’ble Union Minister of Women and Child
Development, inaugurated the NDDB Foundation for Nutrition’s (NFN)
National CSR Conclave titled “Role of Corporate Social
Responsibility in Nutrition Security & Malnutrition Mitigation” on
6 January 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi,
in the august presence of Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Hon’ble
Union Minister of State for Cooperation; Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel,
Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
and Panchayati Raj; Shri George Kurian, Hon’ble Union Minister
of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Minority Affairs;
Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation;
Shri Naresh Pal Gangwar, Secretary, Department of Animal
Husbandry & Dairying; Dr Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB; and
other distinguished dignitaries.
The conclave brought together
senior Ministers, Secretaries to the Government of India, leaders from
corporates and PSUs, dairy cooperatives, development institutions and other key
stakeholders to deliberate on collaborative approaches for combating malnutrition
through CSR-led initiatives.
On the occasion, the Shishu
Sanjeevani Programme under the CSR initiative of IDBI Bank,
aimed at supporting 3,000 children at anganwadi centres in
rural Nagpur through an energy-dense, fortified nutritional supplement
developed by NDDB was launched. The third phase of the Giftmilk
Programme under the CSR initiative of SAIL–Bhilai Steel Plant,
benefiting around 4,000 government school children in
mining-affected areas of Chhattisgarh was also launched. The fortified
flavoured milk enriched with Vitamins A and D will be supplied by the NDDB-managed
Chhattisgarh Milk Federation. The CSR partners supporting NFN’s
nutrition initiatives were felicitated during the event.
Addressing the conclave, Shri
Piyush Goyal emphasised that CSR must go beyond statutory obligations and
reflect India’s deep-rooted cultural ethos of giving back to society. He
highlighted the whole-of-government approach, noting the synergy of multiple Ministries
working together with NDDB to address malnutrition, and underscored that
investing in nutrition is an investment in India’s future aligned with the
Sustainable Development Goals.
Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh stated
that India’s dairy sector plays a pivotal role in ensuring nutritional
security. With a per capita milk availability of about 485 grams per
day, milk remains a vital source of nutrition for children, and
through NFN initiatives such as Giftmilk and Shishu
Sanjeevani, nutritional support is being extended to school and
anganwadi children across the country.
Smt Annpurna Devi highlighted that adequate nutrition is fundamental to building a strong and empowered India, with children at the centre of this vision, and appreciated the Giftmilk Programme as an effective model for delivering nutrition benefits at scale.
Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Prof.
S. P. Singh Baghel and Shri George Kurian underscored the importance of
cooperatives, CSR and inter-ministerial collaboration in strengthening
nutrition outcomes and advancing the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Sahkar
se Samriddhi.
Welcoming the dignitaries, Dr
Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, stated that NFN was established during NDDB’s
Golden Jubilee in 2015 to support nutrition for school
children and vulnerable groups. He noted that since 2016, NFN
has distributed about 44 lakh litres of milk to over 1.5
lakh children in 900 government schools and anganwadis across
19 States and Union Territories proving that the programme is more
than just a glass of milk and symbolised a promise towards access to essential
nutrition.
The inaugural session was
followed by two technical sessions focusing on public interventions in
nutrition and corporate–cooperative collaboration for
nutrition security, with participation of around 1,200
stakeholders.
