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Fruit vs egg row mars mid day meal scheme
Highlights
Parents and voluntary organisations express resentment over supply of banana instead of egg for schools in some mandals of Chittoor district as part of mid-day meal scheme.
- Iskcon says it cannot serve eggs as it is a non-vegetarian item.
- Parents, voluntary organisations and some political parties demand termination of contract with Iskcon
Chittoor: Parents and voluntary organisations express resentment over supply of banana instead of egg for schools in some mandals of Chittoor district as part of mid-day meal scheme.
The government, before State bifurcation, entered into an agreement with Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Tirupati, a religious institution, for implementing mid-day meal scheme in Chinnagottigallu, Kalikiri, Piler, Yerravaripalem, Tirupati Urban, Tirupati rural, Ramachandrapuram and Renigunta mandals, considering its wide network and experience in the district.
It is statutory on the part of the implementing agency to serve egg to the students twice a week under the scheme, but Iskcon is supplies bananas to the students citing its tradition of not serving non-vegetarian items.
It was also given the permission for this menu during the government of then chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. However, parents, voluntary organisations and Left parties have been demanding that egg be served to children instead of banana fruits.
They also come up with an argument in support of their demand: in view of reports that bananas are being ripened artificially using chemicals, it would harm the health of children if they are served in mid-day meals.
Iskcon serves mid-day meal to 45,000 students of 485 government schools in seven mandals of the district. CPM district secretary Kumar Reddy demanded the government annul the MoU with Iskcon as it failed to provide egg to the students as per norms.
Some voluntary organisations as well as parents have appealed to the District Educational Officer to terminate the agreement with Iskcon for not serving nutritious food egg to children and entrust the job to self-help groups.
By:C Prabhakar Rao
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