Jaipur's prestigious school bans non-veg in tiffin, triggers debate

Jaipur: One of the most reputed schools in Jaipur is supposed to have banned non-vegetarian items in tiffin boxes, triggering a debate on social media. The school principal has, however, denied it.

Storyteller and screenwriter, Darab Farooqui, has posted a screenshot on his X handle, saying that the school in a notice on May 1 said “Dear parents, please note. Bringing non-vegetarian food (including eggs) in the tiffin is not allowed.” Farooqui says someone in his family received this message.

The writer, who used to stay in Jaipur, questioned whether the school can have a policy where students can’t even bring eggs to the school. He has also posted pages from the school’s text-book, writing “Notice the irony-this is what the child’s textbook from the same school states,” saying the food items that make the children strong and healthy like eggs, chicken and others.

The school, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, stands in the heart of the city, and was started by Jaipur’s Rajmata Gayatri Devi in 1984.

A prestigious school in the city, school students have never faced any such discrimination over food items in tiffin ever before, vouch many former students and parents. “I have regularly given non-vegetarian items to my son, when in school. There were no restrictions then. But times are such, one doesn’t know,” says a parent, who wished to remain anonymous.

However, the X-handle reacted with many suggesting that such policies are allowed if the school is a minority institute where faith prohibits such food items and they make it clear in institution prospectus. Some also said such rules can be enforced for private unaided schools and schools run by religious trusts, Some said the change of political regime in the state may have encouraged such a decision.

School principal Jyoti Joshi told Deccan Herald: “Such a notice hasn’t been sent. And even if the X handle is discussing it, there are many more important issues to be discussed about.” But she also added : “That non-vegetarian items in school tiffin get stale and are not fit for consumption, which is not the same in case of vegetarian items. I am from a science background and have adequate knowledge about this. Also the weather being hot, it is not advisable.”

A school in Hyderabad had also banned non-vegetarian items in tiffins in 2018.

While eggs are an important source of protein, many BJP ruled states do not serve eggs in their mid-meals in government schools. States like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh do not serve eggs while states like Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Telangana do. The serving of eggs in school mid-day meals has been a controversial issue for long.

Jaipur’s meat shops and non-vegetarian selling shops, especially in the Old Walled City have come under scanner after the change of regime and after one of its newly elected BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya, began a crackdown on illegal non-vegetarian selling shops selling cooked or raw meat on the streets.