Just 40 per cent veggie militants enough to deny eggs for schoolchildren!

Including eggs in midday meals has long been a bone of contention with religious outfits speaking out against the move despite educationists and nutritionists highlighting its benefits In the wake of opposition from religious groups changes have been made to a government resolution GR that mandated students in schools across the state be served eggs once a weekA GR issued last month stipulated that eggs will not be included in the midday meal if 40 per cent of parentsstudents at a school do not consent to consuming them It also specifies that schools receiving meals from Akshaya Patra and Annamrita Foundation charities affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ISKCON which provide food at nominal rates will be exempted from serving eggsThe changes were reportedly made after a few religious organisations including the Shree Mumbai Jain Sangh Sangathan SMJSS an organisation representing the cityrsquos Jain community and members of the BJP spiritual cell opposed the governments moveThe Shree Mumbai Jain Sangh Sangathan claims that only the poultry industry will benefit from the inclusion of eggs in midday meals File picSameer MarkandeOn January 5 a presentation was given to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar by the trustees and members of SMJSS Following this the state government made amendments to the midday meal notification issued on November 7 and a fresh GR was issued on January 24To step up the midday meal schememdashofficially known as Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman PM POSHANmdashin Maharashtra the state government had decided to serve nutritionpacked food to around two crore students studying in governmentrun schools It was decided that instead of the same old khichdi the students would be served egg pulao and biryani sweets vegetables and fruitsThis was the first time in 20 years that the school education department had decided to reintroduce eggs to the midday meal menu Students following a vegetarian diet were to be served bananas insteadlsquoOnly poultry industry will benefitrsquoVirag Shah from SMJSS said ldquoDuring the presentation we highlighted that under the new midday meal plan approximately four crore chicks per month and at least 36 crore chicks per year excluding the vacation period would be sacrificed for egg production Now as a result of the changes in the notification nearly 225 crore and 20 crore chicks per month and year respectively will be spared Adding eggs to midday meals will not benefit thestakeholders at allrdquoSMJSS which represents more than 1125 Mumbaibased Jain Sanghs that have more than 15 million followers in its presentation claimed ldquoEggs in midday meals is designed to benefit the poultry industry There is no demand for eggs from any of the stakeholders The statersquos intention to support the poultry farmers will prove futile The scheme will impose a huge economic burden on the state The PM POSHAN scheme does not recommend eggs in its entire scheme It advocates culturally accepted food In Maharashtra where the vegetarian population is 40 per cent eggs cannot be called culturally accepted foodrdquolsquoHow is it fairrsquoThe principal of a BMC school in south Mumbai said ldquoIt was decided that students at governmentrun and aided students would get an egg a week either boiled or as part of other preparations such as pulao or biryani while vegetarian students and those who donrsquot want the eggs would be served fruits It was clear and nobody was going to be forced to eat eggs These objections and the amendments made to the GR are illogical My domestic helprsquos daughter studies at a BMC school They prefer eggs Just because 40 per cent of studentsparents vote against eggs she wouldnt get eggs with her meal How is that fairrdquoWhat new GR saysIn many urban areas of the state readymade meals are supplied through a central kitchen system operated by the Annamrita Foundation and Akshaya Patra Considering the operational capacity of these two organisations all schools receiving meals from them are permitted to provide bananas or in exceptional circumstances local fruits within the limit of Rs 5 per studentIn urban areas readymade meals are supplied through a central kitchen system managed by womenrsquos selfhelp groups Taking into account the number of beneficiaries from these selfhelp groups in urban areas if 40 per cent of beneficiary students in a school request bananas instead of eggs then all students in the respective school will be provided bananas or local fruits under exceptional circumstancesIf parents consent to the inclusion of eggs in their childrsquos midday meals a conspicuous red dot should be placed on the childs identity card Additionally the students who are vegetarians or whose parents have not agreed to their children consuming eggs should be marked with a green dot on their identity cardsCriticising the restriction Prasad Gokhale a parent and convenor of Marathi Shala Aaapan Tikavlya Pajihet a parents awareness group said ldquoWe are vegetarians and would not prefer eggs in the meal However just because we dont we cannot make others follow our preferences Many dieticians and nutritionists recommend eggs citing health benefits Instead of relying on religious groups the state government should have relied on experts to make these changes This new kind of discrimination has now become a trend I disagree with these amendmentsrdquoDoctorSpeakNiti Desai a Mumbaibased consultant nutritionist said eggs cannot be replaced with fruits ldquoEggs are considered firstclass protein or complete protein The issue with the Indian diet is that we are very rich in carbohydrates and low in protein Hence eggs make a good filler for protein However eggs or other protein from animal sources have a high carbon footprint Of course there are options to replace eggs with dairy products like milk dahi lassi etc but that will prove expensive Another option is plantbased protein peanuts etcrdquoShe added ldquoMidday meals served in schools are very important and eggs would contribute to nutrition but eggs cannot be substituted with fruitrdquoPaediatrician Dr Hema Yadav said she recommends eggs and bananas to all kids for the treatment of malnutrition irrespective of religion and dietary preferences ldquoEggs offer significant nutritional value as they provide highquality protein While its possible to replace them with plantbased proteins such alternatives may be costly and impractical A single egg can easily fulfil a childrsquos daily protein requirements whereas expecting children to consume or finish a bowl full of sprouts raises practical concernsrdquoJan 5Day a presentation was given to CM