Mumbai, April 6, 2026: By achieving an 85% reduction in severe and moderate child malnutrition, Tata Motors Foundation’s Aarogyasampanna programme has positively impacted over 1,000 children in FY’26 across Chembur and Vashinaka in the Mumbai region. Implemented in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s most vulnerable settlements, the project demonstrates how sustained community-based nutrition and maternal health interventions can combat malnutrition, which aligns with the global focus on health equity and prevention on the occasion of World Health Day.
Developed in partnership with the Nirmaya Foundation, Tata Motors’ Aarogyasampanna programme is designed to strengthen public healthcare delivery for women and child health, address child malnutrition and inculcate behavioural changes to make the programme sustainable. Since 2021, the programme has reached more than one lakh households in the areas predominantly inhabited by migrants with unpredictable incomes and limited access to public healthcare system.
In Chembur’s densely populated neighbourhoods, healthcare of newborns and infants, as well as the health of expectant and new mothers gets compromised. In the absence of awareness and support, young mothers have often resorted to irregular breastfeeding and unsafe feeding practices such as giving sugar water to newborns. These realities highlight the complex gaps in maternal care and nutrition awareness that continue to drive malnutrition in these underserved communities
The programme adopts a preventive, community centric approach, combining one on one counselling with group sessions for parents on child nutrition, antenatal and postnatal care. It also works to strengthen last mile healthcare access by organising children’s OPDs, setting up community health libraries, and actively facilitating linkages with government healthcare systems.
Beyond child health, this year Aarogyasampanna reached nearly 10,000 community members through healthcare camps, nutritional and behavioural change interventions. The programme encourages pregnant women to enroll in government health and nutrition schemes and refers partially immunized children for immunization.
Through its Peer Group Development model, the programme trains community-based peer leaders to raise awareness and build ownership, so communities can take charge of their own health.
Commenting on the initiative, Vinod Kulkarni, CEO – Tata Motors Foundation, said, “Urban settlements face deeply interlinked challenges of nutrition, access and awareness. Aarogyasampanna was conceived to work at the intersection of addressing child malnutrition, building community awareness and strengthening access to public healthcare. The progress in Trombay and Vashi reinforces the belief that behavioural change towards healthcare is possible when the interventions are rooted in community, consistency and collaboration with government systems.”
The outcomes delivered by Aarogyasampanna highlight the potential of localised interventions to improve child nutrition and maternal health in high need urban communities, offering a scalable model for strengthening grassroots healthcare ecosystems.