Mumbai: Less than three months after including eggs in the school mid-day meals, the Maharashtra government has taken them off the menu for certain schools. According to a new government resolution issued on Wednesday, no students will get eggs only if 40% of the parents at a school don’t consent to have their kids eat them. The schools that get their meals from Akshay Patra and Annamrita Foundation, charities affiliated with the International Society for Krishan Consciousness (ISKCON), will also be denied eggs. These schools will instead be provided with bananas or other fruits.
The conditions come after some religious groups objected to the decision for ‘hurting the religious sentiments’. Some of the students from vegetarian households might end up eating eggs in schools, they had argued. The eggs were added to the school meals for the first time in the state in November last year to make the food more nutritional and appetising. It was decided that students at government-run and aided students would get an egg a week, either boiled or as part of other preparations such as rice pulao or rice biryani, while vegetarian students and those who don't want the eggs would be served fruits.
Educationist Slams Restrictions
The state has also now asked the schools to distinguish between the students whose parents have consented to eggs and those whose haven’t by marking their identity cards with red- and green-coloured spots, respectively. The restrictions were criticised by Kishore Darak, an Ahmednagar-based educationist, who said that segregating students through colour codes on ID cards is discriminating and will result in dietary stigma.
“With an absurd definition of majority, the GR also forces all children to have bananas if 40% vote for it, while not giving any choice to schools receiving mid-day meals from organisations known to spread vegetarianism through onion and garlic-less meals. The government should revise the circular that brings caste and religion on the school menu card and focus on providing nutrition without discrimination,” he added.
Egg In Mid-Day Meal: A Contentious Issue
Eggs in the mid-day meal scheme, officially called Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) has been a contentious issue across the country. The education ministry, in response to a query in Lok Sabha in February this year, revealed that only 14 states provide eggs to schools. While some of them provide it once a week, others give them more frequently – some like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh offer them daily.
