No eggs in school midday meal, BJP-Sena ‘spiritual cells’ warn CM

On November 7, the government issued an order directing all schools in Maharashtra to serve eggs to non-vegetarian students from Class 1 to Class 8 once a week in the mid-day meal scheme.

MUMBAI: The state government’s decision to serve eggs to school students in the mid-day meal scheme has attracted the ire of the spiritual cells of the BJP and Shiv Sena. The cells’ chiefs have dashed off angry letters to CM Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the decision on the ground that it “hurts the religious sentiments” of several communities.

A month later, the spiritual cells of the ruling parties seem to have suddenly woken up to its perceived ramifications.

On November 7, the government issued an order directing all schools in Maharashtra to serve eggs to non-vegetarian students from Class 1 to Class 8 once a week in the mid-day meal scheme now known as Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman. “To provide healthy food to students across the state, the government has introduced eggs and bananas and also finalised a new menu,” school education minister Deepak Kesarkar had said while announcing the decision.

A month later, the spiritual cells of the ruling parties seem to have suddenly woken up to its perceived ramifications. Acharya Tushar Bhosale, chief of the BJP spiritual cell and Akshay Bhosale, chief of the Dharmveer Spiritual Sena, have written separately to Shinde, opposing the decision.

“The decision of the school education department to serve eggs has hurt the religious sentiments of various Hindu sects like the Varkaris and Mahanubhavs, castes like the Brahmins and also Jains, as all these communities do not eat non-vegetarian food,” said Acharya Tushar Bhosale. “If eggs are served, there is a possibility that a child from a pure vegetarian family may eat them unknowingly and damage his family tradition and hurt its religious sentiments. If the government wants to serve nutritious food to schoolchildren, there are options other than eggs such as cow milk, jaggery-peanuts and dry fruit.”

When questioned why he was opposing the decision since eggs were not compulsory, Acharya Bhosale said that children had a tendency to eat what their friends were eating. “So eggs need to be strictly removed from the menu,” he said.

Akshay Bhosale from the CM Shinde-led Shiv Sena, while echoing his counterpart in the BJP on the religious sentiments of ‘Sanatani Hindus’ and Jains, also had a rather unique reason for his opposition. “The decision to give eggs to non-vegetarian students and bananas to vegetarian ones is also against the principle of uniformity in schools,” said his letter. “All students should get the same food and they should eat together. This kind of decision will create a divide between them.”

Prakash Maharaj Javanjal, chief of the Maharashtra Varkari Mahamandal, has also jumped into the fray and given the government a deadline. “If it does not cancel its decision by December 20, we will destroy the eggs coming in for the mid-day meal scheme,” he warned.