India’s Bengal drops eggs from school lunches: Why that’s stoking debate
Summary
The government of West Bengal in India, led by the BJP party, has decided to stop serving eggs in school lunch programs by giving the contract to the Hindu group ISKCON, which serves strictly vegetarian meals. This change affects nearly 12 million students and has caused debate about food nutrition and politics in the state.Key Facts
- West Bengal’s BJP government handed the school lunch program contract to ISKCON, a Hindu religious group.
- ISKCON provides only vegetarian meals and does not include eggs, which they consider similar to meat.
- The midday meal program feeds nearly 12 million students in West Bengal daily.
- India’s national midday meal program started in 1995 and helps increase school attendance.
- About half of India’s states include eggs in their school meals, but West Bengal is now fully vegetarian in this program.
- ISKCON has been involved in school lunch programs in several states but never ran a whole state’s program before.
- Experts usually recommend meals be cooked locally to ensure freshness and community involvement.
- Modi’s government renamed the midday meal program to PM Poshan in 2021 to highlight nutrition.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.