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India’s West Bengal state will bring back eggs to free school meals after a backlash against a decision by its Hindu nationalist government to replace them with vegetarian alternatives, officials have said.
The reversal follows criticism from teachers, nutritionists and parents who argued that removing eggs from school lunches could deprive children from poor families a key source of protein.
The issue erupted last month after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, elected for the first time in the state in May, removed eggs from meals in some state-run schools and arranged for a Hindu religious charity to provide vegetarian food instead.
The move rekindled a long-running debate over food and religion in the world’s most populous country, with critics accusing the government of trying to turn schoolchildren vegetarian.
