Amid the controversy over the West Bengal government delegating the responsibility of serving mid-day meals in schools to International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), which effectively indicates that it would be vegetarian, Jorasanko MLA Vijay Ojha clarified that “eggs, meat and fish” are not the only sources of nutrition.
“ISKCON is hygienic. Apart from protein, being hygienic is more important. Many opposition MLAs have shared their concerns, now our Finance Minister and Chief Minister will deliberate on this. Meals from ISKCON is nutritious. It is not the case that eggs, meat and fish are the only sources of nutrition. At present, many have come from here,” Ojha said in an exclusive conversation with Dainik Statesman.
Addressing the huge uproar that this step, announced in the state budget, has stirred up, Ojha assured that the matter will be discussed in the budget session.
“It is not a matter of controversy. We have time alloted for this issue in the budget session. We will see what comes out of it,” he said.
মিড-ডে মিল বিতর্কে রাজনৈতিক তরজা তীব্র, সরব বিজয় ওঝা@VijayOjhaBJPWB | @BJP4Bengal #DainikStatesman #ISKCON #MidDayMeal #VijayOjha #WestBengalPolitics #PoliticalNews pic.twitter.com/ydPOmT0DeW
— Dainik Statesman (@StatesmanDainik) June 26, 2026
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader stressed that this decision “is not religious imposition”.
“ISKCON serves food in a very hygienic condition. We want our school kids to have this. Our efforts are directed towards that end,” he clarified.
Sharpening his attack against the Left, who have voiced their strongest criticism against this step, he said, “What happened earlier is not our concern right now. However we have seen that in Dharmatala, Bikas Ranjan Chakraborty had beef in front of anyone. Is that more nutritious? If he had power, he could have eaten any other meat at that place.”