A political row has erupted over food being cooked separately and by different cooks for Hindu and Muslim students at a school in West Bengal’s Purbasthali area in Purba Bardhaman district. The institution at issue is the Kishoriganj Monmohanpur Primary School, attended by nearly 70 students.
The school principal has said that he did not want this system to prevail in the school.
“Only the same gas stove is used for the meals; the cooks are different, the ingredients and utensils are separate, and we cook in separate rooms for Hindu and Muslim students,” one of the cooks, Banu Bibi told mediapersons.
The cooks also said the principal of the school had previously tried to join the two kitchens and solve the crisis but was unsuccessful as parents refused to let their children eat food made by a cook from the “other” community.
“Due to this the cost of preparing mid-day meals has also doubled. To stop this, we are trying to conduct a meeting with the parents of students,” Tapas Ghosh, the principal of the school said. He also said that there is no other communal tension between religious groups in the area other than discrimination related to food.
