5,500 Vadodara Anganwadi Children Without Milk for a Week Over Payment Dispute

Around 5,500 children at 400 anganwadis run by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) have been without their daily milk for a week. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the Amul brand, allegedly stopped supplying milk pouches to anganwadis across Vadodara city on September 17 following a dispute over payments.

Hiral Thakore, District Programme Officer of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), said the disruption was caused by an “exhausted credit balance” with Amul due to rising milk prices. She alleged that Amul coordinators delayed the submission of bills, leaving the ICDS with “no time” to process payments promptly.

ICDS, which was renamed Anganwadi Services in 2017 and later revised and subsumed into Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, provides nutritional support to children below the age of six. According to the Government of India, it is one of the world’s largest programmes for nutrition and early childhood care and development.

5,500 Milk Pouches Needed Daily at Anganwadis

Under the milk distribution programme, children aged six months to six years receive 100 ml of milk five days a week. Thakore said the 400 anganwadis under the VMC require 5,500 milk pouches every day. An Amul official said the cooperative supplies milk to individual civic bodies under the modalities of the Doodh Sanjeevani Yojana, the Gujarat government’s milk distribution programme.

Thakore said the milk supply arrangement began in 2012, when a three-month credit amount was deposited with Amul. However, the credit was exhausted as the price of milk increased from Rs 9 to Rs 11.25 per pouch in 2025. According to Thakore, “the credit was exhausted around July.”

According to Thakore, the department was receiving Amul’s bills late, which was affecting the payment cycle despite payments being processed as per schedule. “The issue arose because Amul does not hand over bills to us in time. The last payment that was processed on August 21 was for the month of June, as the bill was received late,” she said.

July Bill Delayed, Milk Supply Halted

Thakore said the July bill was received only on September 3 despite repeated reminders and was subsequently sent for processing. “We have sent it for processing but departmental work takes time. Meanwhile, Amul has discontinued the supply,” she said.

The Amul coordinator for the ICDS programme in Vadodara city was unavailable for comment on Thakore’s allegations.

Thakore said the department had asked Amul to submit each month’s bill by the 10th to prevent such disruptions. The VMC’s accounts department said it had no information about the alleged delay in the submission of bills and that bills were cleared “whenever they are received”.