Calcutta HC Steps In on ISKCON Mid-Day Meal Plan, Seeks Bengal Govt’s Stand

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to submit an affidavit stating its position on the proposed handover of midday meal provision for school students in Kolkata to the ISKCON.

A PIL was moved before the court claiming that handing over the cooking and provision of cooked food to West Bengal government-run and -aided schools under the PM-Poshan scheme to the ISKCON would mean depriving students of eggs and loss of livelihood for thousands of self-help group (SHG) members.

SHG members currently cook mid-day meals in schools across the state.

A division bench presided by Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty directed the state government to state its position on this matter in an affidavit.

The bench, also comprising Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, stated that the matter would be heard again after four weeks.

Moving the PIL challenging the West Bengal government's plan to hand over midday meals for school students in Kolkata to ISKCON, petitioner's counsel Kalyan Banerjee stated that the scheme was envisioned to provide nutritious food to students to prevent school dropouts.

He stated that the other purpose of the scheme, which was to provide employment to women self-help group members for cooking and providing food to the students from raw materials supplied by the government, would be defeated as these women would also lose their livelihood if the cooking and distribution were handed over to the organisation.

Banerjee submitted before the court that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stated in the assembly that midday meals, under the PM-Poshan scheme, would be provided in 1,800 government-run and sponsored schools by ISKCON.

He stated that the state government is the implementing authority of the central scheme PM-Poshan, which is meant to provide nutritious cooked food to the students.

On a query from the court, Banerjee submitted that there is no notification from the state government in this regard yet, but the chief minister has made a statement on the floor of the House.

The court said that the central notification of 2010, by which the midday meal scheme was introduced, did not exclude the participation of NGOs and other desirable units.

The division bench wanted to know whether any follow-up action has been taken following the chief minister's announcement.

Representing the state government, Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra stated that nothing has yet been done in this respect, maintaining that the PIL was based on assumptions and there was no official order yet in this regard.

He stated that a clause in the scheme allows for centralised kitchens in urban areas where schools have space constraints for cooking, and that this can be done using the PPP (public-private partnership) model.