Karnataka mulling over including more eggs in midday meals: minister B C Nagesh

During the discussion on the issue, B K Hariprasad, leader of the Opposition in the Council, claimed that children were not getting eggs in some schools. “Food is being politicised. If someone eats non-veg, it is described as impure or unclean…. There are religious restrictions over consuming non-vegetarian foods including eggs,” he said, contending that this had affected the nutrition levels of students.

Nagesh dismissed claims that some schools are not giving eggs to students as “false information”. After initially providing eggs in schools of regions where the number of malnourished children is high, the government studied the benefits of egg consumption, he said. “Nutrition levels have increased… The state government is clear on its stance. We will do it (provide eggs in schools) irrespective of any opposition (to the programme),” he said.

Hariprasad, recalling a recent survey, said that 38.37 lakh of the 47.97 lakh students in government schools had preferred eggs to bananas and chikki. Nagesh said that children were given complete freedom to select food items of their choice.

Meanwhile, Thippeswamy urged the government to provide eggs to students studying in classes 9 and 10 as well.