Adhikari inaugurates ISKCON mid-day meal kitchen in Kolkata

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari inaugurated ISKCON's mid-day meal kitchen in Kolkata, saying eggs would be supplied separately following students' demand. The pilot project will initially serve 44,000 students across 500 schools before statewide expansion

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday inaugurated ISKCON’s kitchen, where mid-day meals will be prepared for 44,000 students of 500 schools in the city, and said his government decided to provide eggs separately following students’ demand, and not because of the opposition’s criticism.

Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration programme of the mega kitchen in Kolkata, Adhikari said he did not need to pay heed to the opposition’s demands since the people voted the BJP to power with an overwhelming majority of 208 MLAs in the state assembly.

---

“The menu of ISKCON meals includes dal, rajma, soya bean and paneer, all of which have high protein content and, with the additional seasonal fruits, make up for wholesome nutrition of students. We chose to provide eggs separately because students and guardians requested a non-veg item,” the chief minister said.

Adhikari on Wednesday announced his government will separately provide eggs to students in mid-day meal, though the responsibility of cooking and supplying meals in all government and government-aided schools in Kolkata would be undertaken by ISKCON as a pilot project from August 1. “We will do what the people ask us and not what the opposition or some media person tells us to do. We already have the people’s blessing with 208 MLAs,” the chief minister said.

The mindset of people had been wired in a particular manner about dietary habits because of governments that ruled the state for the last 49 years 39 years of Left rule followed by 15 years of TMC created this misconception, he said.

Now that a nationalist government has assumed power, that illusion will also change slowly, he added. Adhikari took part in a ‘yajna’ before formally opening the kitchen facility of Annamrita Foundation, a wing of the ISKCON, in Taratala in the south-western part of the city and also lent a hand in cooking the day’s meal for students.

He also flagged off electric vehicles that will transport the cooked meals to schools. The project is based on an agreement inked between the state school education department and ISKCON. “Initially, ISKCON will serve mid-day meals to 44,000 students in 500 schools in and around Kolkata. Within the next three months, mid-day meals will reach 2.5 lakh students, and in due course, we will extend the facility to the entire state. We have enhanced budgetary allocation for pre-primary and primary sections to Rs 10 per meal per student,” he said.

The chief minister said the state government would separately provide boiled eggs to students twice a week through self-help groups (SHGs), in addition to the meals prepared by ISKCON. “Balanced nutrition will help in children’s overall development,” he said, thanking the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for the initiative.

Adhikari said that no mid-day meal cooks, who had been preparing mid-day meals so far, would be retrenched, and his government has already enhanced their remuneration from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per month.

“The ISKCON has a tradition of cooking pure vegetarian food, and the government has no intention of asking them to compromise with it. We will provide eggs separately. The Odisha government also follows this practice. I hope the opposition will now rest easy and keep their instincts for violence in check,” he said.

Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agrawal and School Education Minister Dipak Barman were present at the event. Around 40 students from five schools also attended the inaugural programme. The initiative aims to streamline the preparation and distribution of food under the state’s mid-day meal scheme, through ISKCON, officials said.