Nestle rolls out Rs 90-cr rural women project

Nestlé India has rolled out a Rs 90 crore women health project encompassing breastfeeding and maternal health among the rural poor.

The investment would flow during three financial years on its ‘Jagriti’ project, which is now in the second year, Nestlé senior vice president (corporate affairs) Sanjay Khajuria told Business Standard here.

The Indian subsidiary of the Swedish FMCG major has tied up with a non-for- profit organisation to create awareness about nutrition and benefits of breastfeeding in the hinterland.

He said the project was underway in 15 districts spanning Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Odisha. It targets covering 3.3 million population for improving reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health indicators, he informed.

In India, nearly 26 million infants are born each year, of which a million die before the first 4 weeks of birth and 1.7 million die before reaching first birthday. The infant mortality rate in India is 54 per 1000 live births and neonatal mortality is 29/1000 live births. In the global context, almost one in every three babies in the world, who die before the age of four weeks, is from India.

Khajuria said lack of investment in these sectors lead to an increase in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), lesser institutional deliveries, high domestic and sexual violence and its subsequent adverse effects.