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Bengal govt to add eggs as ISKCON serves ‘Satvik’ mid-day meals in Kolkata schools
Adhikari said that as a pilot project, ISKCON would provide midday meals to schools in a large part of Kolkata from August 1.
The West Bengal government will supply eggs for mid-day meals in Kolkata schools, which will be added to the menu served by ISKCON, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday.
Adhikari said that as a pilot project, ISKCON would provide midday meals to schools in a large part of Kolkata from August 1, while the state government would additionally provide eggs to students through self-help groups, PTI news agency reported.
The West Bengal CM said ISKCON would serve “satvik and wholesome food” to students in government schools as part of the pilot project in the state's capital. He added that to ensure a protein-rich and balanced diet, the state government would provide eggs along with the meals through self-help groups.
Adhikari earlier this month announced that ISKCON would start supplying mid-day meals to schools in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal after a meeting with state education ministers and senior officials of the union education ministry. The Bengal CM had also said that the per-student allocation under the primary school midday meal scheme would be increased to ₹10 from the existing ₹6.78 from August 1.
“Midday meals will be cooked on gas and, step by step, solar panels will be installed. Every school will have clean toilets, arsenic-free drinking water and utensils for students to have their meals,” Adhikari had said.
Bengal CM announces disbursal of funds to schools, accused previous govt of ‘neglect’
Adhikari further said that an amount of ₹296.64 crore was transferred through net banking to 80,375 government, aided and sponsored schools in West Bengal for their development, according to PTI.
“Though the amount, considering the number of schools, is not high, the funds were very necessary for the institutions,” the Bengal CM said, announcing the disbursal of funds under the composite grant.
Adhikari alleged that the education institutions in the state were “deprived” owing to the “previous government's failures over the last three years in policy, its arrogance and neglect.” The Bengal CM said that while 60 per cent of the composite grant for schools is provided by the Centre, the remaining 40 per cent is covered by the state government.
Chicken biryani in Tamil Nadu schools?
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government is considering a proposal to serve chicken biryani once a week to students under the state's noon meal scheme, PTI news agency reported.
Tamil Nadu minister for school education Rajmohan said he had put forward the proposal, and the formal request, along with relevant supporting data, had been submitted to chief minister C Joseph Vijay.
"The Justice Party brought food, the Kamaraj rule made it a midday meal, Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) came and brought eggs into this, puratchithalaivar (M G Ramachandran) changed it to a nutritious meal, Amma (Jayalalithaa) came and brought eggs every week... many changes occurred. Similarly, I had a desire... I have put forward a request: why not serve chicken biryani once a week?" he said.
