KOLKATA: Teacher Raja Dey fears attendance might drop now that government-run schools have stopped serving eggs for lunch in his eastern Indian state, a dietary change that has stirred a political storm.

The humble egg, a popular food in West Bengal, was taken off the menu after the state’s recently elected Hindu nationalist government said a religious charity will provide free, vegetarian cooked meals in state-run schools.

The new arrangement has rekindled a long-running debate over food, faith and nutrition in the world’s most populous country, with critics accusing the government of trying to turn schoolchildren vegetarian.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which swept to power in West Bengal for the first time in regional elections held in May, often promotes vegetarianism as a part of its nationalist agenda, although most Indian Hindus eat meat and fish. Eggs, which Hindus generally consider non-vegetarian, are even more widely consumed.

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose regional Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost May’s vote after 15 years in power, has denounced the move to remove eggs from school meals as going “against the culture” of the state, home to more than 100 million people.

“The BJP government is trying to impose vegetarianism on school children,” TMC lawmaker Dola Sen said. Some teachers have expressed concerns over attendance rates as well as good nutrition.

“The mid-day meals have been one of the biggest attractions in state-run primary schools,” teacher Dey said.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2026