- By Surarika Das
- Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:05 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
- The ISCKON announced that it would exclude all non-vegetarian food items, including eggs, from the menu.
- The new budget presented on June 22 claimed to entrust ISKCON with cooking and serving midday meals to students.
- The decision has been strongly criticised by several leaders.
Bengal Eggs Controversy: As the egg controversy escalates in Bengal, the newly elected government led by Suvendu Adhikari has proposed adopting the Odisha model, which involves providing additional funds to schools for purchasing eggs for midday meals, should they choose to do so. The development comes a week after the Bengal government announced it would hand over the responsibility of providing midday meals in government-run schools to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The organisation announced that it would exclude all non-vegetarian food items, including eggs, from the menu. The move soon received backlash from the opposition party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), claiming that the move would deprive the children of essential nutrients.
Will New Model Be Implemented?
The Bengal officials, on Sunday, claimed they were evaluating the Odisha model, under which the organisation in charge of the scheme would continue its work, but school administration would receive extra funds to buy eggs. The education department officials are expected to meet on Wednesday to work out the midday meal modalities. The new budget presented on June 22 claimed the government's decision to entrust ISKCON with cooking and serving midday meals to students from classes 1 to 8 in government schools in Kolkata.
Bengal BJP co-incharge Amit Malviya said on Sunday, "The outrage over the government's decision to hand over the mid-day meal programme to ISKCON is completely fabricated. ISKCON has a long and proven track record of serving food to millions of people across India with the highest standards of hygiene and efficiency.
The organisation also has deep cultural roots in Bengal, and portraying it as an external imposition is absurd, Malviya added.
How Leaders Criticised Move?
The decision has been strongly criticised by several leaders. Reacting to the announcement, TMC leader Mahua Moitra said, “Eggs are a class A protein, which means all the amino acids are covered in that. The only non-animal protein which is first-class is soy. Our children don’t like soya. When we feed it in schools, they don’t like soya. So here you are, substituting egg", she said.
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Questioning the choice of replacement foods, she said, “Why don’t you eat rajma chawal? And what is rajma? Do Bengalis know what rajma is? I didn’t know what rajma was till I went to Delhi. 40% of our school-going children go to school because (eggs are part of) the one nutritious hot meal of the day."
Giving a similar reaction, TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brian shared a hard-hitting post: "After the fish-eating tamasha during the election campaign, the Gujarat Gymkhana finally reveals itself. New BJP government at work in Bengal. Throw eggs at rivals. But DEPRIVE CHILDREN of nutrition by taking eggs off midday meals. Imposing vegetarianism. Bengal rejects this."
Defending the policy, the BJP and ISKCON rejected criticism around nutrition and food quality. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the objective of the programme was to ensure students receive hygienic and good-quality meals.