Religious leaders seek ‘Sattvic food’ in K’taka schools

Bengaluru-based doctor Sylvia Karpagam, who is also a researcher working on right to health and nutrition, especially among marginalised communities, criticised the push for sattvic food, saying it lacked any scientific rationale

Religious leaders have advocated for providing faith-based education and Sattvic food to schoolchildren during a round-table conference called by the Karnataka government to discuss the modalities of the implementation of value-based education in the school curriculum in the state.

The meeting convened by state’s school education and literacy minister BC Nagesh at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Monday saw participation of various religious and spiritual leaders, including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. (ANI)

The meeting convened by state’s school education and literacy minister BC Nagesh at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Monday saw participation of various religious and spiritual leaders, including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, besides academicians, heads of educational institutions and officials from the school education department.

Religious leaders from various communities deliberated on imparting faith-based value education in line with Indian ethos and the National Education Policy-2020. Around 50 religious leaders -- most of them were Hindu seers but there were Christian, Muslim, Jain and Parsi leaders as well -- and education experts participated in the meeting.

“The religious seers, education experts, and management members of educational institutions have provided practical suggestions on implementing value-based education,” said Nagesh. “We will soon form a committee of experts to work on the curriculum and will try implementing it from the next academic year.”

Stressing on the need to provide Sattvic food to schoolchildren, Gangadharendra Saraswati of Swarnavalli Mutt said there is a scientific relationship between the food and the person’s state of mind. “Following appropriate food discipline is important in order to address anger issues among students. Sattvic food can ensure the physical and mental well-being of children,” said the seer. “We should also make yoga practice compulsory in the morning and encourage children to be early risers, which will enhance their concentration and help them focus better on their studies.”

He said the government should consider offering sattvic meals in schools and parents should also follow it at home.

Sattvic is basically a pure vegetarian diet that includes fruits, vegetables, grain, pulses and other plant-based items.

Vishwaprasanna Teertha Swamiji, pontiff of the Pejawara Mutt in Udupi, said displaying raw meat at shops should be avoided as “it affects children’s mental health.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, “Value-based education is crucial to develop a good personality. Additionally, we must first evaluate the teachers’ personalities and train them to teach children. Parents should also be trained because children spend 35% of their time with them.”

Pointing out that there is no proposal at present to offer sattvic food in schools, the minister said: “Some countries are advocating to avoid consumption of milk and meat as they affect health. We may need to take it into consideration in the future if necessary and if children’s growth is being affected. At present, there is no proposal introducing Sattvic foods to school children.”

Bengaluru-based doctor Sylvia Karpagam, who is also a researcher working on right to health and nutrition, especially among marginalised communities, criticised the push for sattvic food, saying it lacked any scientific rationale.

“First of all, I don’t think religious leaders should be interfering in either education or nutrition,” she said. “The education department is sending out a very wrong message to the children. Basically, they are telling children to eat unhealthy food.”

She added no research backs the claims that sattvic food is better. “Most of the research shows that animal food is better to address nutritional issues in the country. For example, in our country which has high levels of stunting and undernutrition, we are also likely to have other nutritional deficiencies like iron, calcium, B12.”