The West Bengal Education Department has instructed school authorities to take charge of serving eggs to students twice a week during mid-day meals. At a meeting held at Bikash Bhavan in Kolkata, representatives from schools receiving meals through ISKCON were informed that an allocation of ₹16 per student (₹8 per egg) has been set for the weekly two-egg requirement. School management will initially cover these expenses through their composite grant before submitting reimbursement bills to the state government.
The directive comes following public concern that non-vegetarian items might be excluded from mid-day meals in schools where ISKCON’s Annamrita Foundation supplies cooked food. To address this, the government reiterated that students must receive eggs twice weekly and tasked individual school administrations with procuring and serving them. Discussions are also underway to source eggs directly from Haringhata Farm in Nadia to streamline the supply chain, as voluntary organizations expressed difficulty in covering procurement and boiling costs within the ₹8 per egg budget.
To facilitate egg preparation, the department plans to provide electric heaters to schools with smaller student enrollments. Revised staffing guidelines were also issued, directing schools to engage one cook-cum-helper for every 50 students, and up to six cooks and helpers for every 500 students. While some school authorities voiced concern over logistics and financial management, the state government maintained that school-level implementation remains essential to ensuring nutritional requirements are met without interruption.