81% prefer eggs tochikkis, bananas in midday meal

Introduction of eggs in midday meals may have caused a stir, but the children have made their choice

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Distribution of eggs during mid day meals has been a hot topic of discussion among political and religious leaders in the state of Karnataka. However, the children have chosen their preference.

According to recent data, over 80 percent of midday meal beneficiaries chose eggs over chikkis and bananas. As of December 14, the Department of Public Instruction has revealed that out of 47.97 lakh students studying in government schools from Class 1 to Class 8, 38.37 lakh students preferred eggs, 3.37 lakh chose bananas and only 2.27 lakh chose chikkis. The remaining students are said to be absent over the period.

After a pilot study revealed encouraging results regarding the addition of eggs in midday diet, the Department of School Education went ahead to serve it along with hot meals. Children from classes 1 to 8 could now choose from eggs, bananas and chikkis under a supplementary nutrition programme. It was decided that they would be provided for 46 days a year in all districts of the state for the academic year 2022-23.

On the other hand, the pilot project had met with severe opposition from religious leaders who claimed that introduction of eggs was “discrimination” against children who followed a vegetarian lifestyle. Many seers and gurus from mutts had said that they would wage severe protests if the rule was not withdrawn.

They instead wanted grains and pulses to be given to the students as introducing eggs would “lead to problems as far as religious rituals are concerned and children will go astray.” Despite heavy opposition, the government, relying on the pilot study, went ahead and implemented the scheme across Karnataka from July 22.

A position paper on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 had claimed that introduction of meat and eggs in the midday meal scheme would cause “lifestyle disorder” and over 4 percent of children were “unwilling” to consume eggs. The paper had drawn severe slack from the scientific community, who put out various statistics of deficiencies among children in the state.

While around 14.4 lakh students in Ballari, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadgir district benefited from the scheme, two sets of children from Yadgir and Gadag, were monitored by a 15 member team of food scientists, health experts and economists for changes in their mean height, weight and BMI.

As part of the study, authorities served eggs to students in Yadgir and those in Gadag were given vegetarian meals along with milk. A total of 4,500 students from over 60 schools in the two districts were involved.

According to the results, there is “clear evidence of significant improvement” in the growth of children who are given eggs as part of mid-day meals, with girls in Class 8 gaining up to 71 percent more weight than their peers who were not served eggs. The study also noted that bananas, for all their benefits, cannot be a substitute for eggs, and urged authorities to explore alternative “protein-rich vegetarian items”.