Krishnagar, July 7: The double-digit inflation demon is not sparing schoolchildren.

A meal of fish, dal and chutney has been replaced with an insipid helping of khichdi at school and the children are not happy.

The result: not just unhappy faces at lunchtime but half-empty classrooms.

In seven schools of Krish-nagunj in Nadia, attendance has dropped by 500 from 1,400 with the change in the mid-day menu.

“We are being forced to make the menu spartan. But the students are unable to take it. So, many of them have stopped coming to school,” said Samir Maulik, the headmaster of Tungi primary school.

“Many students come from poor families and an attractive mid-day meal means a lot to them.”

The supply of rice became irregular during the rural polls in May, he added, forcing schools to buy from the market. “The inflation had already pushed up the prices of vegetables, pulses, spices and oil and our costs spiralled.”

In three months, the price of mustard oil in Krishnagunj, about 100km from Calcutta, has gone up from Rs 60 a kilo to Rs 85. Moong dal costs Rs 65 a kilo, up from Rs 40, and musur Rs 55 a kilo, instead of Rs 30.

At the Tungi school, 90 of the 165 students do not come any more.

“I went to their houses and asked them why they weren’t coming. They said they didn’t like our food,” said Maulik.

Sankari Brahma, the headmistress of Majdia Primary School, said khichdi and a “light dal” had become the staple.

“The students told me they want fish, soybean and vegetable curries and fries. But how can we provide them with so much? The prices have soared,” she said.

The government provides Rs 2.50 for every primary school student every day.

“The price of brinjal has doubled and bhindi is selling for Rs 12 a kilo. Tomatoes are luxury items,” said Brahma.

“We can only give them potatoes. But the children don’t want potatoes every day,” said N.N. Ghosh Chowdhury of Dhananjoypur Primary School, where 80 students have dropped out.

Class IV student Sumit Rajbangshi said: “I’m not interested in khichdi. We keep having it at home. I used to go to school because of the food.”

Sumit has been helping his father, Rintu, 35, in the paddy fields every morning for the past three months.

Samar Saha, the son of a cycle van operator, accused his teachers of going back on their promise. “What they give now is tasteless.”

A group of headmasters from Krishnagunj met district primary school council chairman Bibhas Biswas today.

The official said he was worried. “If prices go up this way, I don’t know how many of the children who have stopped attending classes can be brought back.”

District magistrate Onkar Singh Meena has called an emergency meeting with food department officials tomorrow.

The main objective behind introducing mid-day meals in primary schools was to arrest a ballooning dropout rate.