Month after backlash, West Bengal govt clarifies on eggs in mid-day meals amid ISKCON’s entry
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Month after backlash, West Bengal govt clarifies on eggs in mid-day meals amid ISKCON’s entry")
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that eggs will be served separately in mid-day meals
West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari said ISKCON will provide cooked mid-day meals in Kolkata schools from August 1 under a pilot project, while eggs will be supplied separately by self-help groups. The move comes amid Opposition claims that vegetarian food was being imposed on students.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (Jul 30) announced that his government will separately provide eggs to students in mid-day meal, even as the cooking and supplying meals in all government and government-aided schools in Kolkata would be undertaken by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The CM clarified that this is a pilot project which will begin from August 1. This comes approximately a month after the Bengal government faced backlash after it announced that ISKCON would handle the mid-day meals in schools and eggs would not be given.
Adhikari has now said that that under this new scheme, ISKCON will take over the preparation of wholesome vegetarian meals, while the state government will handle the separate distribution of eggs via local Self-Help Groups (SHGs) starting the very same day. He made the statement while speaking at a School Composite Grant distribution programme held in the state secretariat Nabanna.
The government also announced providing financial assistance of over ₹296 crore to a total of 80,375 state-run schools from the event. “A pilot project will be launched from August 1 in which ISKCON will provide pure, satvik and protein-rich food in mid-day meals in schools in a large part of Kolkata. Eggs will be separately served in the mid-day meal by Self Help Groups (SHGs),” said Adhikari. Dipak Barman, state school education minister, said, “We will serve eggs once or twice a week.”
The Opposition TMC has raked up the issue saying that BJP-ruled state is trying to impose vegetarian diets on students. TMC MP Derek O’Brien wrote on X, “A month ago, we had asked for eggs not to be removed from mid-day meals for children in Bengal. Then came the big talk. Today, eggs are back announced the CM.”
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