Who (and Why) Should Deny if 80% School Kids Want Eggs?

  •   Sat, Dec 11 2021
  •   By John B Monteiro

December 11, 2021

“A life cycle approach to food security will imply attention to the nutritional needs of a human being from conception to cremation. The most vulnerable but neglected segment is the first 1,000 days in a child's life - the period from conception to the age of two, when much of the brain development takes place.” - M. S. Swaminathan (b1925), Indian agricultural scientist and leader of green revolution.

What happens after 1000 day? Kids go to kindergarten, primary school with many of them half starved, underweight and stunted. So, the government has started feeding programmes, mainly midday meals through anganwadis. The most nutritious item under this scheme is boiled egg. This item is being opposed by some. But, students, by an impressive majority, are for serving (and obviously for eating) eggs as reflected in the following report by Shreyas HS and published in The Times of India (7/12/21) and excerpted below.

Over 80% in Kalyana-Karnataka schools want eggs in midday meals: Survey

KALABURAGI: At least 80% of students in government and aided schools in seven Kalyana-Karnataka and Vijayapura districts prefer boiled eggs during midday meals. This was the key finding of an informal survey conducted by school principals on November 26 and 27 to elicit the views of students on the choice of food during lunch.

The survey recorded the height and weight of schoolchildren to assess the nutritional benefits of consuming eggs and this data will be analysed in January, a source said. Of the nearly 15 lakh children surveyed in the two-day exercise, more than 12.5 lakh children voted in favour of eggs.

With the aim to boost nutrition among children, the government recently introduced eggs or bananas as part of midday meals in seven backward districts of Kalyana-Karnataka and Vijayapura district. The state is now planning to extend the programme to classes 9 and 10 children after school development and monitoring committees made a demand to the administration.

According to Nalini Atul, additional commissioner, public instruction department, Kalaburagi division, the project approval board has given green signal to give 46 eggs per child in this region for the rest of the academic year based on previous year’s data on the total number of children. “The current year has seen a 2% rise in admissions. In our survey, nearly 13 lakh children were willing to eat eggs,” she added.

According to a circular from the primary and secondary education department, 14.4 lakh students will have a choice of eggs or bananas during midday meals from December 1 this year to March 30 next year. “Students in classes 1 to 8 will receive 12 eggs or bananas in a month on school days,” the circular said.

An education expert said the data gathered is ‘a referendum’ on implementation of eggs. “The government must expand the project across the state. Any attempt to scuttle it denies the rights of children wanting to eat eggs,” he said.

“One man's meat is another man's poison”. This expression originates in antiquity. Whether the Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus (known as Lucretius) coined the expression in the first century BC, or merely repeated it, his is the oldest known reference. It means that everything is relative – what a person values, another may think worthless. But, the person concerned should be an adult capable of making a decision for himself/ herself and not an innocent for whom decisions are made by others.

The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Your response is invited in the format given below. (Please scroll down a bit).

 

Also read:

 

 

 
By John B Monteiro
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Comment on this article

  • Veer, Nagpur

    Sun, Dec 12 2021

    Make India’s future strong by making our children strong. Don’t exploit our children for some vested interest of some section of the people who feel threatened by these children if they become strong and wise. Eggs are purely natural food and according to science a person can have 3 eggs per day safely. Body can easily recognize the cholesterol and deal with it accordingly. There is high cholesterol in coconut oil, milk, butter, ghee etc too called milk fat which is more riskier than eggs.

  • mohan prabhu, mangalore/canada

    Sat, Dec 11 2021

    John, I have said it before and will say it again: Eggs are No.1 for cholesterol, especially the yolk part of it; doctors recommend not more than 2 or 3 per week. There is nutritional value but what about the health effects? There should e some substitute for yolk - may be a synthetc egg?

  • Rohan, Mangalore

    Sat, Dec 11 2021

    I don't see that it's a big issue. Give a choice to who wants to eat and serve them their choice. If needed have separate dining tables. Each ones choice to do what they want in their lives. The parents may take decision for children who are smaller.


Leave a Comment

Title: Who (and Why) Should Deny if 80% School Kids Want Eggs?



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.