Doodh Sanjivani Scheme

What is the Doodh Sanjivani Scheme?

Doodh Sanjivani Scheme is a nutrition programme of the Women and Child Development Department, Government of Gujarat, delivered through the Anganwadi network of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

Doodh Sanjivani Scheme was designed to improve the nutritional status of children and women in Gujarat's tribal and less-developed areas. The scheme covers 138 tribal and developing communities across 20 districts, and is implemented entirely through Anganwadi centres. The same centres that already run supplementary nutrition, immunisation support and pre-school education in those areas.

The intervention itself is simple and physical: fortified flavoured milk, handed to the beneficiary at the centre on fixed distribution days. Fortified means micronutrients have been added to the milk. Flavoured means the milk is given a taste young children will accept, which matters far more than it sounds when the target group starts at six months of age.

The scheme is written in Gujarati records as Doodh Sanjivani Yojana, and readers searching that transliteration will find the same programme described here.

What exactly does a beneficiary get?

Note the two different patterns. Children get a smaller quantity more often to 100 ml, five days a week: because a young child's intake is limited and regular daily consumption is what changes nutritional status. Mothers get a larger quantity less often to 200 ml, twice a week, as a supplement alongside the other maternal nutrition support delivered at the Anganwadi.

There is no cash component to the Doodh Sanjivani Scheme. Nothing is paid into a bank account. The benefit is the milk itself, handed over free at the centre.

Doodh Sanjivani sits alongside, rather than instead of, the department's other nutrition programmes. A family registered at an Anganwadi in a covered area may be receiving Take Home Ration, Poshan Sudha support for pregnant and lactating women, and Doodh Sanjivani milk at the same time. Ask the Anganwadi worker which of these your household is already enrolled for.

Who is eligible for the Doodh Sanjivani Scheme?

You or your child can receive the milk if:

• The beneficiary is a child aged 6 months to 6 years, or a pregnant or lactating mother.
• The beneficiary is registered at an Anganwadi centre.
• The Anganwadi centre falls within the 138 tribal and developing communities across the 20 districts where the scheme operates.

You are not eligible if:

• The child is under 6 months old. The scheme begins at six months, the point at which complementary feeding normally starts.
• The child is over 6 years old. Older children are covered by school nutrition programmes instead.
• The beneficiary is not registered at an Anganwadi centre. Registration is the single gate into the scheme, and an unregistered child cannot be given the milk even if the family lives next to the centre.
• The Anganwadi centre is outside the covered tribal and developing areas. Doodh Sanjivani is a targeted scheme, not a statewide universal one.

There is no income limit and no caste restriction published for the scheme. Registration and the age or pregnancy status of the beneficiary are what decide eligibility.

What documents are needed?

The document list is deliberately short. Doodh Sanjivani is delivered to families who are, in many cases, already known to the Anganwadi worker, and the worker's own register is the operative record. If you do not have a birth certificate for the child, say so at the centre rather than staying away — the Anganwadi worker can advise on obtaining one and on interim registration.

How to apply for the Doodh Sanjivani Scheme

Doodh Sanjivani Scheme has no online form. Registration is done in person at the centre:

1. Visit the nearest Anganwadi centre in your area. Every covered village and urban pocket in the scheme districts has one, and the Anganwadi worker will confirm whether that centre distributes Doodh Sanjivani milk.
2. Register yourself or your child with the Anganwadi worker. The worker enters the beneficiary in the centre register.
3. Provide the required documents: birth proof for the child, identity proof for the mother or guardian, and a pregnancy certificate for a pregnant mother.
4. Ask for the distribution days and timings at that centre. Days differ between centres, and children's days are not the same as mothers' days.
5. Collect the milk on the scheduled distribution days. For children, that is five days a week; for pregnant and lactating mothers, two days a week.

There is no fee at any stage. No one is authorised to charge a family for registration or for the milk.

How to check whether you are enrolled

Because Doodh Sanjivani runs on the Anganwadi register rather than an online system, checking enrolment is a local process:

1. Ask the Anganwadi worker to show your child's entry in the centre register, and confirm the age recorded matches the birth proof.
2. Escalate to the ICDS supervisor for the sector if the centre is not distributing on the stated days.
3. Contact the District Women and Child Officer for your district. The Women and Child Development Department publishes the list of District Women and Child Officers along with programme officer contacts on its website.
4. Contact the department at Gandhinagar: Block No. 9, 8th Floor, New Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, telephone 079-23257942; if the district level does not resolve the matter.

Common reasons a family misses out

• The child is never registered. This is by far the most common reason. A family that has moved into a village mid-year and has not gone to the centre simply does not appear on the register.
• Age recorded wrongly. Where no birth certificate exists, an approximate age entered years earlier can push a child out of the 6-month to 6-year band on paper while they are still within it in fact. Take the birth certificate to the centre and get the register corrected.
• The family is in an area outside the 138 covered communities. No amount of paperwork changes this; the scheme is geographically targeted.
• Missing the distribution days. Milk is a perishable, daily-logistics benefit. Unlike a Take Home Ration, it cannot be accumulated and collected later. Learn the centre's schedule and keep to it.
• Pregnancy not recorded. A pregnant mother must be entered as such at the centre to receive the 200 ml twice-weekly ration.

Key dates

Doodh Sanjivani Scheme has no application window and no last date. Registration at the Anganwadi centre is continuous throughout the year, and a child becomes eligible on turning six months and stops being eligible on turning six years. A pregnant woman should register as early in the pregnancy as possible, so that the supplement runs through the pregnancy and into the lactation period.

Where to raise a complaint

• Anganwadi worker at your centre, the first point of contact for registration, register corrections and distribution days.
• ICDS supervisor for your sector, where the centre is not distributing.
• District Women and Child Officer. The department publishes the district officer list and programme officer contacts on wcd.gujarat.gov.in.
• Women and Child Development Department, Block No. 9, 8th Floor, New Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar. Telephone 079-23257942.

Doodh Sanjivani milk is free. If any person asks a family for money in exchange for registration or for the milk itself, report it to the ICDS supervisor or the District Women and Child Officer immediately.