India(PerformanceAuditof Mid
DayMealScheme [2009-10to 2013-
14]),the APF(underthe name of its
parentorganisation,ISKCON [In-
ternationalSocietyfor KrishnaCon-
sciousness]) wasidentified as an
NGOwhose food was not being
eaten sufficiently by children.
Between 2011 and 2014 , theAPF
prepared 322lakhmealsin Ballari
district, as pertheinvoicessubmit-
ted.Hadit conformedto thepre-
scribednorms,it wouldhavehadto
use 36 lakhkg of rice,but it usedonly
28.91lakhkg, meaningthere wasa
shortfallof 7.08lakhkg of ricedur-
ing thethree-yearperiod(pages 115
and116).Anotherpieceof evidence
showsthatthecoveragepercentage
of the MDMSis lowestin Dharwad,
BallariandBengaluruUrbanwhere
theAPF supplies food (MidDay
MealScheme:Annual WorkPlan
andBudget 2018-19).
Whilethe NIN has approvedthe
mid-day mealprovidedby theAPF
as meeting nutritional standards,
activists claimthatthe decisionwas
madeon thebasisof themenusent
by theAPFandnotby physically
evaluatingthe qualityof food.
Second,whilethe socialstrataof
children attending government
schoolsis diverse,dataclearlyshow
thatthe majority of themcomefrom
poorer, lowercasteandmarginalised
backgrounds.Theyrepresentdiffer-
ent foodcultures, noneof whichex-
cludetheuseof onionandgarlic,a
common ingredientin a varietyof
cuisines. Thecastecompositionof
students studying in government
andaidedschoolsshowsthat93.79
per cent of thembelongto the Sched-
uledCaste, Scheduled Tribeor Other
Backward Classes categories (in-
cluding Muslims).(Source:U-DISE
[Unified DistrictInformationSys-
temfor Education]Reportfor 2016-
17 [Karnataka].) Onionandgarlic
arean integral partof these com-
munities’ diet.
In an emailto ShridharVenkat,
chiefexecutiveofficer of of the APF,
Frontlineasked,“Whyare onionand
garlicnotusedin mealspreparedby
Akshaya Patra?”Therewasno direct
answer,buthe gavea long-winded
response on howtheAPFprovided
tastyandnutritiousmealsthatmet
the prescribedcalorific standards.
What could be the reason for the
non-inclusionof onions andgarlic?
In their letter, dated May2, 2019, to
the Principal Secretary, Education,
Karnataka, activists stated: “Akshaya
Patra Foundation (APF)is linkedto
International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON), a religious
organisation which holds thebelief
that ingredients like onion and garlic
are not ‘sattvik’ andshould not be
consumed. By not including these in-
gredients in the foodsupplied as part
of mid-day meals scheme in
Karnataka, it is imposing its religious
beliefs on children studyingin pub-
licly funded (government-run and
government-aided) schools.”
Thus,in schoolswhere theAPF
provides noonmeal,a Hindu upper-
casteBrahmanicalfoodcultureis be-
ing imposed on schoolchildren.
Siddharth Joshi narratesan anec-
doteto backthisobservation: “At the
BBMPGirls HighSchoolin Austin
Town,childrentoldmethatthey
wouldpreferto havefoodcooked
withonionsandgarlic, andwould
evenliketo haveeggson theirmenu.
Theladywhowasservingthefood
saidthatBrahmins did not eat onion
andgarlic, so perhapsit wasgoodif
we alsodesisted [from eating them].
Thisis howa Brahmanical sentiment
gainsdominance.”VIOLATION OFMOU
Third,the APFis in violationof the
memorandum of understanding
(MoU)it signedwiththe Bengaluru
ZillaPanchayat for 2018-19.(A copy
of theMoUis in thepossession of
Frontline.) It is necessaryfor a parti-
cipating NGOto signan agreement
withtheinstitutionof local gov-
ernance. TheMoUincludesan an-
nexure(Schedule II) thatprescribes
the rawingredients.Thefactthat it is
notusing thelistof prescribedin-
gredients is a violationof the termsof
thecontract. Manyactivistswonder
howthe NGOis allowed to get away
withtheviolationwhen 73 other
NGOsthatare partof the schemeuse
onionandgarlicin theirnoonmeals.
Thecostpermealfor pupils of
Classes1 to 5 is Rs.4.35andof Classes6 to 10 it is Rs.6.51.Forschools dir-
ectlysupported by the State govern-
ment,theamountis disbursedin
advanceat thedistrictandtaluk
levelswhile the NGOs’ bills are
settledon a monthlybasis.Food-
grainsareprovidedto theNGOs
throughan arrangementwiththe
FoodCorporation of Indiaat subsid-
isedrates.RicecostsRs.3a kg and
wheatRs.2a kg. Eventransportation
costsof theparticipatingNGOsare
reimbursed.
ShridharVenkat,in responseto a
queryfromFrontline, said“... a meal
costsRs.14.05of which thegovern-
mentcontributes Rs.5.68”.There-
mainderis raisedthroughdonations.
In a report in The Hindu,
UmashankarS.R.,PrincipalSecret-
ary of the Departmentof Education,
defendedthe Stategovernment’s de-
cisionto continueits partnership
withthe APF.He stated: “Underthe
MidDayMeal Scheme,what the
governmenthasprescribedarethe
nutrientlevelsrequiredin a meal—
thelevelof carbohydrates,proteins,
etc.Theyhavenot prescribed the in-
gredients....NINhassaidthatthe
APFmeetsthenutritionstandards,
so whyshouldwe cancelthe contract
withtheAPF?Exceptfor thisone
smallreason(therefusalto use onion
andgarlic),thereare a lot of advant-
agesfor the governmentto continue
its contract with ISKCON.... We
aren’tdelving intophilosophicaland
religiousissues.”
Eggs wereprovidedin themid-
daymeals in governmentschoolsin
Karnatakabetween 1990 and 1992
whenS. Bangarappa wasChiefMin-
ister. The Kannada slogan
“dinakkondu motte, tumbuvudu
hotte”(anegga dayensures a full
stomach) waspopularat thetime.
Eggshavenotbeenincludedon the
mid-daymealmenuby the succeed-
ing governments. Kerala, Tamil
Nadu,Telangana,AndhraPradesh,
Jharkhand,WestBengalandOdisha
provideeggsas partof themid-day
meals.By allowingtheAPFto get
awaywithnotincludingonionand
garlicin its food, thereis a fearthat
an upper-castefoodcultureis setting
the boundariesfor foodhabitsin the
State. $