India’s Bengal drops eggs from school lunches: Why that’s stoking debate
Key takeaways
- Opposition politicians say the BJP is ‘imposing vegetarianism’ by removing eggs from midday meals in West Bengal.
- The organisation has in turn announced a menu that strips the meals of eggs.
- The Hindu majoritarian BJP, which rules nationally, came to power in West Bengal, a state of more than 100 million people, for the first time in May.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Opposition politicians say the BJP is ‘imposing vegetarianism’ by removing eggs from midday meals in West Bengal.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo An Indian woman serves vegetables to pupils at a government school under the midday meal scheme in Ganjansoo village near the India Pakistan International Border in Jammu, India, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 [Channi Anand/AP Photo]By Sarah Shamim Published On 1 Jul 20261 Jul 2026The government of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal has decided to drop eggs from a school lunch scheme that spans all government-run schools, stirring up debate about politics and nutrition.
The government, led by Indian PM Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has handed the contract for what is known as the midday meal programme to the Hindu religious organisation, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement. The organisation has in turn announced a menu that strips the meals of eggs.