Ranchi: National Dairy Development Board chairman Dilip Rath said on Monday that children up to Class V in various state-run schools of Latehar district would get 200ml of free milk fortified with Vitamin A and D from Tuesday.

Over 12,000 children in Latehar would be benefited by the project that will be formally inaugurated by chief minister Raghubar Das.

NDDB and its subsidiary companies had initiated the move to provide fortified milk to children for fighting malnutrition while celebrating its golden jubilee year in 2015-16.

While Rural Electrification Corporation (RECL) is funding the project under its corporate social responsibility scheme, Jharkhand Milk Federation (JMF) will be taking care of logistics to ensure regular supplies to children of Latehar.

Addressing a news conference, the NDDB chairman said that micronutrient deficiency was a serious issue across the country leading to impairment of physical and mental growth of children.

"This programme is already going on in various parts of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Telangana," he said.

Rath maintained that the food safety and standards authority had fast-tracked initiatives to raise awareness and encourage adoption of fortified milk.

Mother Dairy and several other cooperative societies, including Jharkhand Milk Federation and Tata Trusts, have already begun fortification of milk.

He noted that milk production in Jharkhand had shot up to 98,000 litre per day and that the aim was to increase it to 2.5 lakh litre per day in 2019.

He added that as of now, over 17,000 milk producers belonging to 16,000 villages were being benefited by the dairy business.

"JMF will also be supplying fortified milk to common consumers through its retail outlets. Jharkhand will also be developed as a processing hub of fruits and vegetables," Rath added.