India’s Bengal drops eggs from school lunches: Why that’s stoking debate
Opposition politicians say the BJP is ‘imposing vegetarianism’ by removing eggs from midday meals in West Bengal.
An Indian woman serves vegetables to pupils at a government school under the midday meal scheme in Ganjansoo village near the India Pakistan International Border in Jammu, India, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 [Channi Anand/AP Photo]
By Sarah Shamim
Published On 1 Jul 2026
The government of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal has decided to drop eggs from a school lunch scheme that spans all government-run schools, stirring up debate about politics and nutrition.
The government, led by Indian PM Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has handed the contract for what is known as the midday meal programme to the Hindu religious organisation, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement. The organisation has in turn announced a menu that strips the meals of eggs.
Recommended Stories
India’s language war: Why is Hindi sparking a north-south divide?
The Hindu majoritarian BJP, which rules nationally, came to power in West Bengal, a state of more than 100 million people, for the first time in May.
Here is what was announced, and why it has prompted debate.
Students eat their midday meal during lunch break at a government high school on the outskirts of Hyderabad on November 23, 2021 [Noah Seelam/AFP]
What was announced?
The BJP government of West Bengal announced last week that it was handing over the food contract for the midday meal scheme to ISKCON.
ISKCON, which offers a strictly vegetarian menu – like many so-called “upper-caste” Indian Hindus, the organisation treats eggs on a par with meat – has argued that it will ensure that it serves high-quality and nutritious lunches to the nearly 12 million pupils in West Bengal who consume midday meals.
An ISKCON spokesperson – who has since been sent on enforced leave for speaking to the media – told reporters last week that while eggs are packed with protein, an equal weight of soya or cottage cheese held even more protein.
The BJP government of West Bengal announced last week that it was handing over the food contract for the midday meal scheme to ISKCON.
ISKCON, which offers a strictly vegetarian menu – like many so-called “upper-caste” Indian Hindus, the organisation treats eggs on a par with meat – has argued that it will ensure that it serves high-quality and nutritious lunches to the nearly 12 million pupils in West Bengal who consume midday meals.
An ISKCON spokesperson – who has since been sent on enforced leave for speaking to the media – told reporters last week that while eggs are packed with protein, an equal weight of soya or cottage cheese held even more protein.
Students eat their midday meal during a lunch break at a government high school on the outskirts of Hyderabad on November 23, 2021 [Noah Seelam/ AFP]
What is the midday meal and who normally supplies these lunches?
Pioneered by the southern state of Tamil Nadu in the 1960s, the midday meal became a national policy in 1995, and has since been credited by researchers for dramatically helping India raise school participation.
While India still suffers from a high dropout rate – especially among girls as they enter their teenage years – enrolment itself is now almost at 100 percent in most states.
Nationally, 120 million children eat midday meals every school day, making it the largest such programme in the world.
In 2021, the Modi government renamed the scheme to link it directly to the prime minister. It is now officially called PM Poshan – “poshan” means nutrition in Hindi – though it is still widely known as the midday meal scheme.
Traditionally, nutritionists, educationists and public health experts have advocated for serving hot, freshly prepared meals cooked locally near the schools they are meant to serve. That ensures that the food is fresh, involves the local community – which has the biggest stake in ensuring healthy meals – and encourages the use of local ingredients that students are familiar with.
In recent years, some states have allowed privately run trusts and nonprofits to also supply midday meals to some schools. ISKCON, through its nonprofit Akshaya Patra, supplies school lunches in parts of more than 10 states.
But before the West Bengal government’s decision, no major state had handed over the entire operation of the midday meal scheme to ISKCON.
Pioneered by the southern state of Tamil Nadu in the 1960s, the midday meal became a national policy in 1995, and has since been credited by researchers for dramatically helping India raise school participation.
While India still suffers from a high dropout rate – especially among girls as they enter their teenage years – enrolment itself is now almost at 100 percent in most states.
Nationally, 120 million children eat midday meals every school day, making it the largest such programme in the world.
In 2021, the Modi government renamed the scheme to link it directly to the prime minister. It is now officially called PM Poshan – “poshan” means nutrition in Hindi – though it is still widely known as the midday meal scheme.
Traditionally, nutritionists, educationists and public health experts have advocated for serving hot, freshly prepared meals cooked locally near the schools they are meant to serve. That ensures that the food is fresh, involves the local community – which has the biggest stake in ensuring healthy meals – and encourages the use of local ingredients that students are familiar with.
In recent years, some states have allowed privately run trusts and nonprofits to also supply midday meals to some schools. ISKCON, through its nonprofit Akshaya Patra, supplies school lunches in parts of more than 10 states.
But before the West Bengal government’s decision, no major state had handed over the entire operation of the midday meal scheme to ISKCON.
A priest of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) offers a prayer with earthen lamps to Hindu god Jagannath during the return of the chariots festival in Kolkata, India, on Monday, July 15, 2024 [Bikas Das/AP Photo]
Are eggs common in midday meals offered by other states?
Roughly half of the country’s states and federally governed territories offer eggs to students as part of their midday meals. These include the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya, and the federally governed regions of Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Some states – like West Bengal until recently – offer eggs once a week, others more frequently, and some, like Tamil Nadu, have eggs on the menu every school day.
Apart from eggs, these states offer rice, roti, lentils and vegetables. Children who do not eat eggs have the option of opting out, while in some places – including in West Bengal until now – teachers and school administrators were allowed to raise their own funds to give meat-eating children chicken too, occasionally.
But West Bengal’s latest move makes it only the latest BJP-ruled state to try to move away from eggs.
In 2025, Maharashtra, the western state that has Mumbai as its capital, stopped funding for eggs in midday meals. Officially, schools are still allowed to find their own funds for eggs, but in practice, say experts, the decision meant depriving most students of eggs in their lunches.
Among the states that still serve eggs as part of the midday meal, a pattern exists: all southern states, and most eastern and northeastern states still have eggs on their menu. These are also the parts of the country where the BJP is either not in power or is relatively weaker than in the north and the west.
This photograph taken on May 18, 2026, shows children offering prayers before breakfast at the ‘Signal Shala’, or traffic signal school, under a bridge in Mumbai [Punit Paranjpe/ AFP]
Why has the West Bengal decision stirred up debate?
While ISKCON has argued that it will supply protein alternatives to eggs, many nutritionists argue that lentils, soya, cottage cheese and other vegetarian options are no clear substitutes.
“Ideally, the choice between animal-based and plant-based protein should be left to parents,” Sandeep Shastri, a political scientist and the national coordinator of the Lokniti research network, told Al Jazeera. “This decision should rest with the parents irrespective of who is the supplier.”
Eggs, say nutritionists, are also packed with all nine essential amino acids that the body needs, in addition to protein. Until lentils, soya or cottage cheese – whose quality, quantity and levels of dilution when in the form of curries are hard to make uniform – eggs on the plates of children are easier to standardise.
Opposition politicians have accused the government of “imposing vegetarianism”.
Derek O’Brien, a leader of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) that the BJP defeated to come to power in West Bengal, wrote in an X post on Wednesday: “New BJP govt at work in Bengal. Throw eggs at rivals. But DEPRIVE CHILDREN of nutrition by taking eggs off from midday meals. Imposing vegetarianism. Bengal rejects this.”
Parliament members from the TMC have been pelted with eggs by protesters in West Bengal in recent months.
While ISKCON has argued that it will supply protein alternatives to eggs, many nutritionists argue that lentils, soya, cottage cheese and other vegetarian options are no clear substitutes.
“Ideally, the choice between animal-based and plant-based protein should be left to parents,” Sandeep Shastri, a political scientist and the national coordinator of the Lokniti research network, told Al Jazeera. “This decision should rest with the parents irrespective of who is the supplier.”
Eggs, say nutritionists, are also packed with all nine essential amino acids that the body needs, in addition to protein. Until lentils, soya or cottage cheese – whose quality, quantity and levels of dilution when in the form of curries are hard to make uniform – eggs on the plates of children are easier to standardise.
Opposition politicians have accused the government of “imposing vegetarianism”.
Derek O’Brien, a leader of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) that the BJP defeated to come to power in West Bengal, wrote in an X post on Wednesday: “New BJP govt at work in Bengal. Throw eggs at rivals. But DEPRIVE CHILDREN of nutrition by taking eggs off from midday meals. Imposing vegetarianism. Bengal rejects this.”
Parliament members from the TMC have been pelted with eggs by protesters in West Bengal in recent months.
A fish vendor talks on his mobile phone at his roadside stall decorated with political party flags ahead of the West Bengal state elections in Kolkata, India, on Friday, April 9, 2021 [Bikas Das/AP Photo]
What are the politics of this?
In state elections in May, the BJP captured power in West Bengal for the first time in history.
Since it came to power, the BJP ordered a crackdown to trace undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, placing them in detention centres before deporting them.
Many Indian states heavily restrict or ban the sale and consumption of beef. Ever since Modi’s government took office nationally in 2014, groups of right-wing Hindu vigilantes have lynched Muslims in several states over unproven rumours of beef consumption or cattle transport.
However, Shastri explained that India has had a long, complex debate over vegetarianism. Many Indians follow a vegetarian diet but eat eggs.
“It may be unfair to directly link Hindu nationalism to vegetarianism,” Shastri said. “There are significant variations in cuisine choice across different parts of India.”
About 70 percent of Indians consume meat, fish and eggs, at least occasionally, according to official government data from the National Family Health Survey.
Fish is also at the centre of the Bengali food culture, both in India’s West Bengal and in neighbouring Bangladesh. When opposition parties tried to paint the BJP as a force that would impose vegetarianism were it to come to power, some BJP candidates campaigned door-to-door carrying fish.
Since then, the party has netted West Bengal – and hatched a new school menu.
In state elections in May, the BJP captured power in West Bengal for the first time in history.
Since it came to power, the BJP ordered a crackdown to trace undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, placing them in detention centres before deporting them.
Many Indian states heavily restrict or ban the sale and consumption of beef. Ever since Modi’s government took office nationally in 2014, groups of right-wing Hindu vigilantes have lynched Muslims in several states over unproven rumours of beef consumption or cattle transport.
However, Shastri explained that India has had a long, complex debate over vegetarianism. Many Indians follow a vegetarian diet but eat eggs.
“It may be unfair to directly link Hindu nationalism to vegetarianism,” Shastri said. “There are significant variations in cuisine choice across different parts of India.”
About 70 percent of Indians consume meat, fish and eggs, at least occasionally, according to official government data from the National Family Health Survey.
Fish is also at the centre of the Bengali food culture, both in India’s West Bengal and in neighbouring Bangladesh. When opposition parties tried to paint the BJP as a force that would impose vegetarianism were it to come to power, some BJP candidates campaigned door-to-door carrying fish.
Since then, the party has netted West Bengal – and hatched a new school menu.
***
Frighteningly, BJP has become more and more scary and fanatic
Closer and Closer.....Soon Rasputin Will Want to Buy Iron Dome or David's Sling............
ReplyDeleteBREAKING:
More and more indications of Ukraine having launched its first ballistic missile at Moscow.
Something big came down in Yudanovka, a village around 50 km from the Red Square in Moscow. Russia reports it shot down a long-range SRBM launched by Ukraine.
Witnesses have taken pictures of attempted S-300/S-400 interceptions taking place far up in the sky, at altitudes much higher than drone or cruise missile interceptions take place.
Ukraine said a few days ago that the new FP-9 ballistic missiles is almost ready and will be fired as possible as soon as possible, potentially even before the end of June.
It has a range of at least 855 km and a warhead of 800 kg, nearly double that of what Russia’s Iskander ballistic missiles carry.
It also has an incoming speed of Mach 7, reaching Moscow within 3 minutes of launch in Ukraine, making it very hard to intercept. A CEP of 20 meters means it’s very accurate (more than 50% of fired missiles land within a 20-meter radius of the exact target coordinates).
The Russians living in Moscow won’t be happy at all once it’s mass-produced and launched frequently in large quantities against Moscow.
Excellent work
@DenShtilierman
https://x.com/visegrad24/status/2072461755003912486?s=20
Wakakaka… ukraine's hypersonic missile next on display mission, mfer.
DeleteRemember to cheer!
Merz’s total failure on the Baltic Sea.
ReplyDeleteSweden takes action—while Germany kowtows to Putin’s rust buckets!
What a pathetic, dangerous failure by Chancellor Friedrich Merz!
Since March 2026, Sweden has significantly tightened controls on the Russian shadow fleet, forcing the Russians to give the country a wide berth. Consequently, these dilapidated, uninsured, sanctions-busting Putin tankers simply shifted their routes closer to the German coast.
Sweden regularly warns German authorities.
And what does Merz’s government do? Nothing at all. No inspections. No seizures. The ships are simply allowed to sail on—31 tankers have even entered Germany’s 12-mile zone with impunity. This is not merely negligence; it is a direct violation of German sovereignty. These old scrap-heap tankers—which funnel billions into the war chest of the perverted dictator in Moscow—are ticking environmental time bombs. A single accident, and the Baltic Sea off Rügen, Usedom, or the Mecklenburg coast would be contaminated.
Then there is the terror threat: espionage, preparations for sabotage, and potential for blackmail.
During a visit to the Navy, Merz talks big about the "real threat posed by Russia"—yet simultaneously allows Putin’s shadow fleet to chug undisturbed through German territorial waters.
Sweden shows how it’s done.
Germany under Merz demonstrates only one thing: weakness, cowardice, and a total inability to defend its own interests and national security. Instead of acting decisively, the Chancellor allows Russia to bypass sanctions, exploit our waters, and make us look like a toothless tiger in the eyes of the world.
https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/2072329176728707431?s=20
Wakakaka… when push comes to shove, what's Sweden, compared to Germany, to the Russko bear?
DeleteMfer, keeps to yr inconsequential fart lay.
This is indeed a very crazy move! Eggs contain a lot of nutrient that is very important for the growing children. The top leadership is to be blamed. Looks like they are carried away by their own bigoted opinion.
ReplyDeleteX Marks The Spot.....
ReplyDeleteBOOM SOON? The 'Yamal Cross’ in western Siberia is a junction that transits 85% of Russia’s natural gas. 17 massive pipelines cross under 54–100 atmospheres of pressure. Disrupt it, and 57% of Russia’s electricity production goes dark.
https://x.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/2072035111357350237?s=20
quick, activate those FP-5 Flamingo, with very long range solid fuel rocket propeller.
DeleteWakakakaka…
Eggs can be problematic for any government-funded nutrition program in India. Many Indians are vegetarian, and many vegetarians practice (among Chinese Buddhists as well) will not partake in eggs.
ReplyDeleteIt's too simplistic to label the Indian government action as "scary / fanatic " over this issue.
labelling the Indian government action as "scary / fanatic " was not only over the egg issue but over a series of persecution towards Muslims
ReplyDelete