What happened
West Bengal's new BJP government presented its first full budget on June 22 and announced, without apparent irony, that ISKCON's charitable arm the Annamrita Foundation would take over school lunches for 1,800-plus primary and upper-primary schools under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The same government had, at its very first cabinet meeting, scrapped all religion-based welfare schemes in the state — madrassas, minority aid programmes, the lot — on the grounds that public money should not be distributed along religious lines. The school meal contract then went to a Hare Krishna organization whose strictly Vaishnav dietary guidelines prohibit eggs, onions, and garlic. A proposed menu circulated on social media showing exactly the kind of protein-forward, spiritually compliant, culturally unfamiliar plate that the term 'paneer and rajma' conjures in a state where the fish market opens before the sun does. TMC leader Derek O'Brien summed it up: 'Throw eggs at rivals. But DEPRIVE CHILDREN of nutrition by taking eggs off from midday meals.' Teachers noted that school attendance reliably spikes on egg days — for many students from economically weaker families, the weekly egg is the reason they come. ISKCON clarified the menu was 'not yet finalized.' The eggs, however, remain off it.