The Jeevani scheme was started in Mumbai by Saaraakassh Trust. Saaraakassh trust is working on tribal belts mainly on health, education and natural ways of farming. Mr Ravi Narayanan, Trustee of Saaraakassh coordinates the Jeevani Scheme in Mumbai.
The Project was started in a small scale of 11 children to begin with in the Zilla Parishad school, Murbad, Mumbai.
To start a Milk Project in this Town was not as easy as in other cities because the tribals in these belt are not in the habit of having milk even in tea. So, The ZP school master Mr Ajay Jadhav was initially not so open to the idea of Jeevani Milk Scheme. It took almost a month to convince the head master, the aanganwadi lady (who is a govt appointee) and to get permission from some parents.
Vaishnavi Trust supplies Ammukura churnam for the Children. The total kid population was 54 in that Village. Out of which 8 children were identified as malnourished and were concentrated upon. Initial one month was with pure ashwagandha powder only.
An Ayurveda doctor was organised by the Saara Akash Trust for initial diagnosis and also for a general health check up. The Ayurveda doctor also advised on the right eating habits for both children and adults which were well accepted.
Benefits
5 out of the 8 children started showing signs of improvement with-in a month’s time.
The average weight gain was 300 grams in one month.
The Aanganwadi lady has gone on record to say that with 2 months of daily milk with Ammukara churnam, there is a marked difference in the kids health.
She expressed that, in addition to mid day meal, if the govt makes the Jeevani scheme compulsory in all schools, it would benefit many children.