Bengal brings chicken into mid-day meal, Opposition spots a bone to pick

West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu told The Indian Express that “paucity of funds” had made them restrict the scheme’s duration to four months. “Under the caring leadership of our Chief Minister, we have constantly strived to provide maximum benefits to students, and this gesture is one more step in that direction. We have introduced chicken and seasonal fruits from our savings. We would have been very happy to continue the menu throughout the year, but that would need much more funds which, sadly, we lack,” said Basu.

According to the January 3 notification issued by the School Education Department, Rs 372 crore extra will be allocated to provide for the extra chicken and fruits, which will be additional to the usual menu of rice, potatoes, pulses, vegetables, soybean and eggs. The extra money per child enrolled in the mid-day now known as PM POSHAN is expected to be Rs 20 a week, for 16 weeks. The notification put the number of beneficiaries at over 1.16 crore students in state-run and aided schools.

While the state and Centre share the cost of PM POSHAN in a 60:40 ratio, the notification underlined that the additional Rs 372 crore will be paid entirely from the state’s share.

The scheme comes into force immediately, with the additional items to be served in different blocks on different days of the week.

The panchayat polls, which are expected to see a heated contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP, are to be held in the month of April-May. Last time, the rural elections had been marked by widespread violence.

Senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, “Why did the state government all of a sudden feel the need to introduce chicken and fruits in the mid-day meal scheme? This means that the CM has understood that the situation is dicey and her party will not fare well in the rural polls… The government is now offering chicken to divert people’s attention from real issues. The TMC is trying to buy people’s votes in exchange for chicken and fruits.”

Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty too slammed the state government. “It is good that the state government has increased the allotment for mid-day meals. It was a long-standing demand of the people. But has the government done this to improve the quality of the meals or just because elections are around the corner?” Chakraborty said, adding that they would have no objections if the government extended the scheme to December.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said it was clear that the move was taken with an eye on the panchayat polls. “But we will not protest as we want the people of Bengal to have the best of things. However, please ensure that the move is corruption-free,” Chowdhury said.

Questioning the Opposition’s objections, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said it should not read politics into every government move. “I would tell the CPI(M) that it should keep its mouth shut as its government destroyed the education system in the state… To the BJP, I would say that first criticise your own government’s decisions. We saw how petrol and diesel prices were (kept low) before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Before the Gujarat elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth crores.”

Criticising the BJP’s “narrow-mindedness”, Sen added: “It indulges in this type of politics. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee works for the people throughout the year.”

The introduction of chicken in Bengal is striking because measures to get eggs into mid-day meals in other states have faced resistance by some groups. Currently, eggs are served in mid-day meals in 13 states and three UTs as part of “additional food items”, with the states/UTs picking the tab. The frequency ranges from five days a week to once a month.

In Madhya Pradesh, the previous Congress government’s decision to add eggs to the menu of anganwadis was overturned by the BJP after it came to power in 2020. In Karnataka, another BJP-ruled state, the proposal to add eggs has been fiercely resisted in the past by Lingayat and Jain seers.

Meanwhile, Bengal Education Minister Basu had a counter-suggestion for the Centre: “We request it to provide us more funds so that we can continue with such best practices.”