UNION Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday flagged off the third phase of the Giftmilk Programme of SAIL–Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) at the National CSR Conclave organised by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) at Vigyan Bhawan. The conclave focused on the role of corporate social responsibility in nutrition security and the reduction of malnutrition.

 

The third phase of the programme marks an expansion of BSP’s flagship CSR initiative aimedat addressing child malnutrition in mining-affected and remote areas of Chhattisgarh. Under this phase, around 4,000 children studying in government schools located in villages around the Iron Ore Mines of Bhilai Steel Plant will receive vitamin A and D fortified flavoured milk.

 

The milk will be supplied through the Chhattisgarh Milk Federation, managed by NDDB, ensuring reliable last-mile nutrition delivery. During the event, the official inauguration of milk distribution in the Iron Ore Mines buffer zone villages was carried out. Giftmilk packets were symbolically distributed on stage to 21 schoolchildren from schools in the Rowghat Mines area, marking the formal rollout of the new phase.

 

Representing SAIL at the programme were Ashok Kumar Panda, Director (Finance), and Rajiv Pandey, Executive Director (HR), Corporate Office, along with senior officials from the CSR and HR departments of SAIL and BSP. The Giftmilk Programme is designed to improve health indicators, school attendance and learning outcomes among school-going children.

 

Under the initiative, 200 ml of pasteurised fortified flavoured milk is distributed on all working school days. Currently, the programme covers 102 government schools and benefits about 3,250 students across Narayanpur, Kanker, Mohla–Manpur–Ambagarh Chowki and Balod districts.