Ideology is often served on a plate. The decision by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal to strike eggs off the menu of mid-day meals served in schools is a case in point. It has been decided that government and government-aided schools that fall within the areas manned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation would now serve vegetarian fare provided by a Hindu religious outfit. Could it be that economic considerations merited this intervention? But then, the state finance minister has announced a raise in the material cost for mid-day meals in primary schools. Earlier, eggs were provided once a week in these institutions. On some occasions, teachers would pool funds to raise money for a meal that would include chicken. The concern for nutrition is understandable. Research has shown, time and again, that a nutritious meal — eggs are rich in nutrients — improves the cognitive ability of learners, facilitates higher enrolment and retention, and complements health needs in a country that has been known to battle stunting and malnutrition among children. The larger question, though, is of choice. Should an elected government impose — dictate — a vegetarian menu on students accustomed to non-vegetarian food as part of their culinary culture? Is this not a form of coercion to imprint a particular ideological strain? The preference of students should have been taken into account since the majority of Indians, data have revealed quite often, are non-vegetarian. There is an additional issue: that of livelihoods. What would be the future of the self-help groups that were cooking the meals thus far?
The legal position on the matter is illuminating. While the Supreme Court has, on many occasions, directed administrations to supply milk and eggs for mid-day meal programmes in areas affected by drought, it has stated that children do not have a constitutional right to choose the menu of mid-day meals. The choice of the menu has thus been demarcated as a policy decision. It is this stipulation — a lapse? — that empowers the government — not children, the recipients of the meal — to choose the food to be served in schools. A uniform policy — favouring vegetarianism or otherwise — in a diverse social setting would always run the risk of being authoritarian. For mid-day meals to be truly representative, they need to cater to all. This requires fiscal muscle that the Bengal government — all governments — seems unwilling to build.