Row after Indian state drops eggs from school lunch menu
Eggs or no eggs? This question has dominated Indian social media and headlines after the eastern state of West Bengal announced last week that eggs
Eggs or no eggs? This question has dominated Indian social media and headlines after the eastern state of West Bengal announced last week that eggs would be replaced with vegetarian alternatives in some government school lunches as part of a pilot project. The scheme, better known as the mid-day meal programme, provides free cooked lunches to children in government and government-aided schools. For millions of underprivileged children, it is the most nutritious - and sometimes the only - meal they eat all day.
The scheme has long been credited with improving nutrition, reducing hunger and encouraging children to stay in school. The row erupted after West Bengal's recently elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government said meal preparation for schools run by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation would be handed to International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), the Hindu group best known as the Hare Krishna movement. Meals will be prepared by Iskcon's Annamitra Foundation, which serves only vegetarian food, replacing eggs with other sources of protein, an Iskcon official said last week.
The project has not yet begun, and it is unclear whether it will be expanded to other schools. In response to the BBC, Iskcon said discussions were still under way and nothing had been finalised. But it has already reignited a familiar debate across India: what belongs on a school lunch plate? Nutrition campaigners say eggs are among the cheapest and most effective sources of protein for growing children, especially those from poorer households. Attempts by several state governments - many led by the BJP - to replace or limit eggs in school meals have repeatedly sparked controversy.
Critics say governments are letting religious or ideological beliefs dictate nutrition policy by removing eggs. Supporters argue that carefully planned vegetarian meals can provide the same nutrients. The opposition All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which ruled West Bengal until May, has accused the newly elected BJP government of trying to "impose vegetarianism" on schoolchildren.
The BriefWire