Midday meals (MDM) are one of India’s policy success stories, but the scheme has turned controversial in recent years with some religious groups opposing the distribution of eggs to students as part of the school lunch.
The most recent battleground is Karnataka, where the government recently announced that it planned to give eggs 46 days a year as part of the midday meal programme. Vegetarian students have the option of choosing fruit or chikki. But despite the choices, the move has already sparked protests. Tejaswini, wife of late MP and former Union minister Ananth Kumar who runs Adamya Chetana, a facility that prepares meals for school kids, tweeted, “Why has our Karnataka govt decided to give eggs in midday meal? These are not the only source of nutrition. It is also exclusionary to many students who are vegetarians. ’’
It isn’t just Karnataka. In Lakshadweep, there was a plea to close dairy farms and remove non-vegetarian food from midday meals. Eventually, a Supreme Court order allowed them to be served to kids. Similarly, there was a long back-and-forth in Madhya Pradesh, with the government replacing eggs with milk.
FIXING MALNUTRITION
This debate, right to food activists argue, is pitting nutritional benefits against religious sentiments and notions of caste-based purity. Dr Veena Shatrugna, former deputy director at the National Institute of Nutrition
(NIN) Hyderabad, says that these debates ignore the fact that over 70% of India’s population is non-vegetarian and the country has a high burden of malnutrition. “Growing children and even adults need protein. The protein we get from milk and eggs, every bit is used by the body, not just for muscles, bones and organs, but for molecules and enzymes,” she says. Without adequate protein, the fat-muscle ratio gets skewed. According to her published research, even underweight Indians weighing 35kg have a fat content of 35%, as opposed to the required 20-25%.
The NIN’s dietary guidelines manual also clearly state the need for animal proteins as these are of “high quality” and “provide all the essential amino acids in right proportions. ” They also don’t spoil easily and can’t be adulterated like cereals can.
Dr Sylvia Karpagam, public health doctor, researcher and activist, says there are various benefits to the school lunch. “There is evidence to show that midday meals not only enhance school attendance and child nutrition but also help children to eat together and thus break some of the social norms around gender, caste and religion. ”
Even in Karnataka, a pilot was first conducted in seven districts and the Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University, Gadag studied the impact of including eggs in midday meals, compared to bananas. After 100 days, they found that the kids in the district with eggs “had better mean weight gain in all classes except class V where it was almost the same. ” There was also not much resistance to egg consumption with 83% of students eating them on at least half the days it was provided.
However, there has been resistance from some NGOs who don’t want to serve eggs for religious reasons. In some cases, states have to provide these from private companies, which often does not happen.
BETTER DIET ONLY FOR A FEW
Even in states where the provision for eggs has been mandated by the government, the situation on the ground reflects a different reality. Chhattisgarh-based activist Gangaram Paikra says that only kids deemed to be severely malnourished are being given eggs in MDM. “Those are the funds they are given. In each anganwadi, only 1-2 kids are being given eggs. This is also because they don’t want the data to show how common malnourishment is,” he says, adding that this is despite the large Adivasi population in the state. He adds, “The government should not decide what Adivasis eat. They talk about development, but kids are not growing, physically or mentally. What is the use of building roads and houses without this development?”
Dr Karpagam says that despite the National Institute of Nutrition recommending at least three eggs a week, this has not been implemented in most places. “While caste has been studied in several dimensions, little work has been done on how predominantly vegetarian researchers interpret research findings and vegetarian policy makers convert nutrition guidelines into policy. Understanding this would enable better and more informed policy making,” she adds.
It’s even more important since nutrition indicators change across caste lines, she points out. In Karnataka, the prevalence of stunting was found in 39. 3% of ST kids and 39. 1% of SC kids, as compared to 36. 2% overall, according to the 2015 National Family Health Survey. Similarly with weight, 40. 1% of SC students were underweight, as were 40. 3% of students from ST communities. Overall, it was 35. 2%.
JUST FILLING STOMACHS
In Jharkhand, activist James Herenj says that while the state has allowed eggs to be served six days a week, supply chain issues have meant that they are only given to kids twice or thrice a week at most. He adds that eggs not only have nutritional benefits, but could have utility for the community at large. “There are no eggs at Integrated Child Development Services centres. If they regularly needed it, egg farming could be a great source of employment in the state. ”
Decisions about what kids eat must be rooted in science, emphasises Dr Shatrugna. “It should just not be about calories. People also need proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and a whole range of nutrients from food. ” However, the free meal often becomes just a stomach-filling exercise. “The attitude is that the poor should be happy with what they’re given, even if it’s largely just cereal. ”
The most recent battleground is Karnataka, where the government recently announced that it planned to give eggs 46 days a year as part of the midday meal programme. Vegetarian students have the option of choosing fruit or chikki. But despite the choices, the move has already sparked protests. Tejaswini, wife of late MP and former Union minister Ananth Kumar who runs Adamya Chetana, a facility that prepares meals for school kids, tweeted, “Why has our Karnataka govt decided to give eggs in midday meal? These are not the only source of nutrition. It is also exclusionary to many students who are vegetarians. ’’
It isn’t just Karnataka. In Lakshadweep, there was a plea to close dairy farms and remove non-vegetarian food from midday meals. Eventually, a Supreme Court order allowed them to be served to kids. Similarly, there was a long back-and-forth in Madhya Pradesh, with the government replacing eggs with milk.
FIXING MALNUTRITION
This debate, right to food activists argue, is pitting nutritional benefits against religious sentiments and notions of caste-based purity. Dr Veena Shatrugna, former deputy director at the National Institute of Nutrition
(NIN) Hyderabad, says that these debates ignore the fact that over 70% of India’s population is non-vegetarian and the country has a high burden of malnutrition. “Growing children and even adults need protein. The protein we get from milk and eggs, every bit is used by the body, not just for muscles, bones and organs, but for molecules and enzymes,” she says. Without adequate protein, the fat-muscle ratio gets skewed. According to her published research, even underweight Indians weighing 35kg have a fat content of 35%, as opposed to the required 20-25%.
The NIN’s dietary guidelines manual also clearly state the need for animal proteins as these are of “high quality” and “provide all the essential amino acids in right proportions. ” They also don’t spoil easily and can’t be adulterated like cereals can.
Dr Sylvia Karpagam, public health doctor, researcher and activist, says there are various benefits to the school lunch. “There is evidence to show that midday meals not only enhance school attendance and child nutrition but also help children to eat together and thus break some of the social norms around gender, caste and religion. ”
Even in Karnataka, a pilot was first conducted in seven districts and the Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University, Gadag studied the impact of including eggs in midday meals, compared to bananas. After 100 days, they found that the kids in the district with eggs “had better mean weight gain in all classes except class V where it was almost the same. ” There was also not much resistance to egg consumption with 83% of students eating them on at least half the days it was provided.
However, there has been resistance from some NGOs who don’t want to serve eggs for religious reasons. In some cases, states have to provide these from private companies, which often does not happen.
BETTER DIET ONLY FOR A FEW
Even in states where the provision for eggs has been mandated by the government, the situation on the ground reflects a different reality. Chhattisgarh-based activist Gangaram Paikra says that only kids deemed to be severely malnourished are being given eggs in MDM. “Those are the funds they are given. In each anganwadi, only 1-2 kids are being given eggs. This is also because they don’t want the data to show how common malnourishment is,” he says, adding that this is despite the large Adivasi population in the state. He adds, “The government should not decide what Adivasis eat. They talk about development, but kids are not growing, physically or mentally. What is the use of building roads and houses without this development?”
Dr Karpagam says that despite the National Institute of Nutrition recommending at least three eggs a week, this has not been implemented in most places. “While caste has been studied in several dimensions, little work has been done on how predominantly vegetarian researchers interpret research findings and vegetarian policy makers convert nutrition guidelines into policy. Understanding this would enable better and more informed policy making,” she adds.
It’s even more important since nutrition indicators change across caste lines, she points out. In Karnataka, the prevalence of stunting was found in 39. 3% of ST kids and 39. 1% of SC kids, as compared to 36. 2% overall, according to the 2015 National Family Health Survey. Similarly with weight, 40. 1% of SC students were underweight, as were 40. 3% of students from ST communities. Overall, it was 35. 2%.
JUST FILLING STOMACHS
In Jharkhand, activist James Herenj says that while the state has allowed eggs to be served six days a week, supply chain issues have meant that they are only given to kids twice or thrice a week at most. He adds that eggs not only have nutritional benefits, but could have utility for the community at large. “There are no eggs at Integrated Child Development Services centres. If they regularly needed it, egg farming could be a great source of employment in the state. ”
Decisions about what kids eat must be rooted in science, emphasises Dr Shatrugna. “It should just not be about calories. People also need proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and a whole range of nutrients from food. ” However, the free meal often becomes just a stomach-filling exercise. “The attitude is that the poor should be happy with what they’re given, even if it’s largely just cereal. ”