West Bengal withdraws approval for Akshaya Patra to provide mid-day meals in four districts

The West Bengal government has withdrawn approval for the Akshaya Patra Foundation to provide mid-day meals in four districts of the State.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government’s decision to hand over the responsibility to provide mid-day meals in schools to Akshaya Patra, which has close ties to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), had created a controversy due to eggs having been taken out of the menu, with critics arguing that this would remove one of the primary protein sources for underprivileged children in State-run schools.

Akshaya Patra has run mid-day meal programmes in parts of Karnataka. While it was set up by ISKCON leaders, the Akshaya Patra Foundation has a separate governing body, and ISKCON authorities have maintained that it has no association with the mid-day service in West Bengal.