Karnataka midday meal row: Parents to now decide between egg and banana for children

Parents to choose between eggs or bananas for children under Karnataka’s midday meal scheme.

The Karnataka government has decided that the government schools will take parents’ consent on their children’s food preferences during the admission process from now.

This move comes after a controversy over serving boiled eggs under the midday meal scheme, where some School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMCs) passed resolutions to avoid serving eggs on certain days, The Times of India reported.

The decision was discussed in the Legislative Council on Monday after BJP MLC N Ravikumar raised concerns. He referred to a report by the Azim Premji Foundation, which has pledged Rs 1,500 crore over three years to provide eggs to school children as part of the midday meal programme.

The foundation had conducted surprise inspections and found that in many schools, eggs were not being served as planned.

Responding to the issue, School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said that some parents preferred their children not to eat eggs on specific days.

To address this, schools will now ask parents during admission whether they want their children to receive eggs or bananas as part of the meal. “It’s better to have parental approval in such matters,” the minister said.

As per TOI, the minister also denied allegations that funds meant for eggs and bananas were being misused. He explained that egg prices vary, and any leftover money is retained by the respective SDMCs.

The Azim Premji Foundation’s inspections revealed that eggs were not distributed in 568 out of the 762 schools visited. Following this, the education department issued notices to the concerned SDMCs to ensure proper implementation of the scheme in the future.