Will removing eggs from midday meals affect children's nutritious health?

Experts and academics argue that it is children who are suffering in the "muddling politics of vegetarian and non-vegetarianism."

Midday meal egg omission Representative Image

Recently, the Maharashtra government announced that it can no longer fund egg pulao and a sweet dish in midday meals across its schools in the state and urged schools to bring it to the table through public funding. Interestingly, it's just been a little over a year since the state government announced the decision to distribute eggs in 2023.

While the state government cites inadequate finances as the reason, many believe it has religious and spiritual undertones to it. Reportedly, the state's BJP 'spiritual cell' chief, pointed out to parents of children from diverse religious groups such as ‘Jains’, ‘Warkaris’ being “uncomfortable with eggs” being served in school meals.

The Opposition, reportedly, criticised the move. Sena (UBT) MLA, Aaditya Thackeray said the government was withdrawing the “only source of nutrition” for most students. “This clearly proves that the government belongs to greedy politicians, who are elected by Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). It does not belong to the people, especially school children who have no vote, no voice,” he said.

Under the PM-POSHAN or midday meal, a three-decade-strong nutritional support programme for children serves pre-primary to Class 8 students a cooked meal in government and government-aided schools.

As per the “Tithi Bhojan” feature of the PM-POSHAN scheme, school or community members can offer something extra other than the regular meals in schools.

Under the scheme, the Centre and state share the cost of the scheme in a 60:40 ratio, Centre provides the foodgrains, while the states decide the menu. Costs for additional items like eggs, fish, chikki or fruits, are incurred by the states.

Experts and academics argue that it is children who are suffering in the "muddling politics of vegetarian and non-vegetarianism."

Earlier in 2020, a paper drafted by a group of experts under the National Education Policy suggested taking eggs off midday meals but offered no credible explanation or evidence-based argument for the same.

In 2022, the Karnataka government published a report that emphasised the 'sufficient contribution' of eggs in midday meals on the overall growth of children across age groups. It, reportedly, said that girls in Class 8 gained up to 71% more weight than their peers who were not served eggs.' 

The study was commissioned by the Karnataka government covering over 4,500 students in two districts.

Midday meals that keep lakhs of children coming to school. Usually, states that offer eggs as a part of the midday meals provide other alternatives to those who do not eat eggs.

Currently, in India, PM-POSHAN typically provides a hot cooked meal to school children, consisting of around 100-150 grams of rice or wheat, pulses, vegetables, and a small amount of oil. This meal is served every day except Sundays, in government and government-aided schools.

At present, 16 Indian states viz Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Mizoram, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry provide eggs in midday meals.

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