Egg-free school meals in West Bengal trigger political and nutrition debate

KOLKATA: The removal of eggs from lunches in government-run schools in India’s West Bengal has set off a political row, with teachers, opposition politicians and public health advocates raising concerns over attendance, nutrition and the role of religion in public policy.

The change followed the decision of the state’s newly elected Hindu nationalist government to have a religious charity provide free vegetarian cooked meals in state-run schools. West Bengal, where eggs are widely eaten, voted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party into power in May for the first time in regional elections. Critics say the move has revived a long-running argument in India over food, faith and nutrition.

Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress lost power after 15 years in office, has condemned the withdrawal of eggs from school meals as going against the state’s culture. TMC lawmaker Dola Sen accused the government of trying to reshape children’s diets along ideological lines.

Teacher Raja Dey said the school lunch programme had long been a major draw for pupils attending state-run primary schools, and expressed concern that attendance could suffer. He said students came in larger numbers on days when eggs were served. While there is no nationwide data directly linking eggs with attendance in government-run schools, official figures from Karnataka last year showed attendance rising from 93.5 to 98.97 per cent after egg distribution was increased to six days a week.

Meal provider change draws scrutiny

In West Bengal, eggs had previously been served once a week. They were replaced last month with plant-based substitutes after the state government brought in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or Iskcon, as the new school meal provider. Iskcon, also known as the Hare Krishna movement, serves only vegetarian food and is described as the leading provider of school lunches in India.

According to the United Nations, India’s school lunch programme is the largest in the world. The scheme is widely credited with helping improve school enrolment, and multiple peer-reviewed studies have found increases of as much as 15 per cent. A 2021 report by the International Food Policy Research Institute also said the programme had played an important role in reducing stunting among Indian children.

With eggs removed from the menu, health advocates have warned that children from low-income households, who are the main beneficiaries of the lunch scheme, could lose an important source of protein and other nutrients.

Competing views on nutrition

Iskcon has defended the revised menu, saying alternatives such as soya chunks, cottage cheese and lentils can provide comparable nourishment. Surovijoy Govinda Das, a senior member of Iskcon, said the group would ensure the meals met children’s dietary needs.

“We will ensure that whatever nutrients a child gets from eggs will be matched or exceeded by superior quality protein and vitamins in our meals”, he stated.

State Education Minister Dipak Barman also defended the move, saying many people in India live healthily on vegetarian diets. But some nutrition experts dispute that eggs can be easily replaced. Community health physician Sylvia Karpagam told Frontline magazine that eggs are the gold standard for protein quality, and warned that without fact-based information the country faced a looming crisis in nutrition and health outcomes.

The issue has also fed into wider political anxieties. During the campaign before the May vote, TMC members had accused Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party of seeking to prohibit fish and meat entirely. The BJP denied that allegation, but the latest school meal decision has renewed such concerns.

The dispute has now reached the high court, which has asked the state government to clarify its position on transferring the lunch scheme to Iskcon. A hearing is scheduled for next month.