The Politics of Eggs in India’s Schools
India Today has put eggs on the cover
of its latest issue because 16 states in the country have decided to exclude
eggs from the free midday meal programme for school children from the economically
backward sections. Thus children’s lunch has also acquired a religion in the
country.
Eggs are arguably the cheapest source
of nutrition for the children concerned. India is a country with millions of
undernourished/malnourished children, though its Prime Minister keeps harping
on the string of being an economic superpower. Eggs can make a big difference
to the quality of the meals for these children from backward sections.
Eggs have high nutritional density,
in the first place. Not only rich in protein, eggs contain essential
micronutrients like iron, vitamin A, vitamin B12, and choline. They cannot be
adulterated – and that matters much in a country where even medicines are
adulterated. Serving boiled eggs is easy too.
The alternatives provided by the ‘holy’
vegetarians of the country are milk, pulses, or soyabeans. Plant-based proteins
lack the complete amino acid profile of eggs unless carefully paired with other
foods.
The children concerned need the eggs.
It’s as simple as that. Reason: the national and sub-national health survey
data reveals a strong negative correlation between the inclusion of animal-source
protein (specifically eggs) in school feeding programmes and the prevalence of
child stunting and wasting.
States that systematically provide
eggs in their midday menus consistently display lower rates of stunting
(chronic undernutrition) and wasting (acute undernutrition) than states that exclude
eggs due to political and cultural mandates.
The plain truth is that a vast
majority of India’s population is nonvegetarian. Excluding eggs from state-funded
welfare programmes prioritizes the vegetarian preferences of specific sociocultural
or upper-caste groups over the dietary realities and traditional habits of
marginalized communities like the Dalits, Adivasis, and other backward communities.
State policy should advance public
health rather than enforce moral or religious orthodoxy. Why should the majority
people of a country be governed by the likes and dislikes of a minority?
As India Today rightly
concludes its report: The midday meal scheme “should maintain a nutrition
programme and not another battlefield in the politics of the plate.”
Source: India Today
Thanks for this well-researched and enligtening piece.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that a Modi-flattering India Today highlighted this issue.
DeleteIt's weird to cut eggs out. They are very nutritious.
ReplyDeleteIn India, for the economically weaker section, eggs are affordable nutrition.
DeleteEggs for lunch? Interesting. I wonder which palm the egg lobby forgot to grease. Someone's not getting paid, it sounds like.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's matter of "culture" in this case. Like language and religion, a vegetarian culture is being imposed.
DeleteEven educational rules and regulations have been made in favour of their religion very pathetic. Religious fanatics must change.
ReplyDeleteSlowly and steadily, they're building a Hindu Rashtra. Some infringement here and some transgression there... That's how the snowball moves on.
DeleteUnfortunately eggs are very high in cholesterol. The damage they do to the circulatory system doesn't show obvious symptoms in just a few years the way stunting of growth does, but it's very real and will cause serious problems later in life.
ReplyDeleteThat's for countries where people overeat. In a country like India, cholesterol is not the problem but malnutrition, for a bif chunk of population.
DeleteWHO guiding principles for complementary feeding recommend that meat, poultry, fish, or eggs be eaten daily or as often as possible, noting associations with higher intakes of key nutrients for linear growth.
One egg contains about 60% of the body's maximum daily tolerable amount of cholesterol. If you eat two a day, you're getting too much, regardless of how little or how much else you eat. Cholesterol isn't a nutrient. It doesn't become safe to get an excessive amount of it just because you're short of actual nutrition.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteWell-observed! Eggs are the one source of protein beyond my otherwise strict saatvika diet that I have not given up. Not every day, by any means, but at least once, often twice a week. YAM xx
In fact, India's schools weren't giving eggs every day to children - it was 2 or 3 times a week. My own state of Kerala gave it once a week with good alternatives on other days.
DeleteThe one nation, one language is so frustrating, I wrote about it in my yesterday's post.
ReplyDelete... And one food too!
DeleteAs a child eating an egg every morning was made mandatory for me. It's sad that these children are being deprieved of a vital source of nutrition.
ReplyDelete