Hyderabad: While Tamil Nadu has put forward a proposal to introduce chicken biryani at least once a week in midday meals, children in Telangana’s government schools are struggling to keep up with the prescribed menu as rising prices and a lack of government reimbursement force eggs off the children’s plates.
According to local reports, egg supply has decreased from thrice a week to once a week in Telangana’s midday meals for students as prices have soared to Rs 8 per unit. The government, on the other hand, continues to reimburse only Rs 6, forcing agencies to bear the extra Rs 2.
A report in The New Indian Express says that the government has not cleared bills for over three months, resulting in Rs 2 crore in dues. On the ground, this translates to children being served rice and dal daily, while the prescribed menu calls for sambar, vegetable curry and leafy greens.
The Midday Meal Workers’ Association in Karimnagar district has suspended egg supply as they are unable to bear the extra costs, the Deccan Chronicle reported.
The association district president, Burra Manjula, told DC that some headmasters and Mandal Education Officers are forcing agencies to continue serving eggs by threatening to replace their services.
Midday meals go eggless in West Bengal
Eggs in midday meals had sparked a nationwide debate last month when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal announced replacing eggs with vegetarian alternatives, while entrusting the operation to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Opposition leaders, like Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, had linked the decision to a broader ideological agenda and accused the BJP of “imposing vegetarianism” through the welfare programme.
School headmasters and teachers had also expressed concern about the scheme’s acceptance, saying attendance often improves on egg-serving days, particularly among children from economically weaker families.
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