Ksheer

The recent pandemic has drastically affected the income of the underprivileged section of society. Milk is an expensive commodity for some and hence, is often overlooked and not considered a priority for children’s nutrition. Project Ksheer [Sanskrit for "Milk"] was undertaken to provide UHT pasteurized milk to over 12,000 underprivileged children living in the slums of Mumbai, over a span of 30 days. The project was carried forward in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. We collaborated with Nandani dairy milk, India’s biggest milk pasteurized company from Bangalore. Achieving our goal also included partnering with fellow Rotaract & Rotary clubs to raise funds and subsequently use distribution channels of established NGO's such as Enrich Lives Foundation to handle the distribution through their elaborate network of volunteers. To further our cause, we joined hands with various celebrities, doctors, influencers & celebrities such as Bappi Lahiri, Aneri Vajani, and Gaurav Sharma. Consequently, we raised over 1 Lakh INR of our total 192,000 in the first 20 days of our project. We carried over 4 camps in Dharavi and in each camp we reached over 360 hearts. As a result of our efforts, we were approached by Radio FM 94.3 for an exclusive interview which was aired in their prime-time slots. In totality, we reached 1500 kids in 4 camps and we aim to carry forward 26 more of such camps. It is difficult to assess the exact impact on the condition but as per findings and discussions, we have found that over 67% of these children have shown improvement in their body mass index. Our next steps include carrying out medical checkups with the help of doctors of RC Medicrew. A case study indicating the pre and post-impact of our project on the condition of the kids will be published and subsequently, our findings will be submitted to the government, NGO's, and corporates at the end of the project tenure.

The word ”Ksheer” is derived from the Sanskrit dictionary which means “milk”. About 60 per cent of India's population lives below the poverty line, of which one third live in slums without access to basic services. On an average, each slum has approximately 3000 children residing there. We found NGO’s which conducted distribution drives for providing food grains and cooked meals, but no one was focussing on distributing milk to children dwelling in these slums. We began by identifying potential slums and an approximate number of children dwelling in those slums. We collaborated with Enrich Life Foundation (ELF) and ConnectFor for the procurement and distribution of the milk. We handled the fundraiser, sourcing, as well as marketing and promotions of the project throught which we were able to raise approximately Rs.1,08,440 through our own marketing campaigns and PR team as well as our ketto fundraiser. We also collaborated with well known celebrities to help spread the word about the project such as the Late Bappi Lahiri, RJ Gaurav Sharma, Aneri Vajani, Harsh Rajput, Samarthya Gupta, Arshi Khan, and Malaika Kokane. RMNP initially decided to distribute milk 2 days a week, after which we saw the financial capacity to increase it to 3 days a week. The main aim of this project was to help and inspire the youth of this country. Through the medium of Ksheer, various NGOs by the help of our blueprint conducted similar projects in their localities. RC Medicrew decided to help the cause by sending doctors on-ground to the slums to collect data of children before they consumed milk distributed by RMNP on a regular basis. The same set of doctors visited consistently to record similar data of the same sample set of children after they consumed the milk provided by them. A total sum of over 6700+ packets of milk was distributed in totality in a period of 4 months after the funds were raised. A case study was created along with RC Medicrew to see how the milk that was distributed created an impact on the children. This case study has been submitted along with the findings for scientific evaluation, the results of which are being awaited. We were also approached by one club in Pakistan who wanted to replicate this project in Faisalabad.