KOCHI: The recent decision by the West Bengal government to replace eggs with vegetable-protein foods like paneer, soy, rajma, and pulses in the midday meal menu has sparked political debate and protests.
In contrast, Kerala in 2025 revised its midday meal menu following reports of nutritional deficiencies among children. The revision also saw biryani added to the menu following the famous request of a four-year-old anganwadi student named Shanku. Even through rising prices, the state’s schools — government and aided — are providing nutritious midday meals, with a treat in between.
According to an official with the district education office, a government-appointed committee designed the menu.
“The menu was prepared to be scientifically balanced, and was also designed to be within existing funding limits while focusing on serving traditional, nutritious food to combat unhealthy fast-food preferences,” the official said.
The official said that according to the revised menu, the circular for which was issued on August 1, 2025, 20 variations featuring diverse items such as curries, thoran, pachadi, and special items like ragi-based dishes, payasam, and various chutneys made from ingredients such as mint, gooseberry, and mango were to be provided by the school.
Egg and milk are provided to the children as supplementary nutrition, the official said.
“The students are given 150 ml of milk twice a week and one boiled egg once a week. Children who do not consume eggs are given bananas instead. The updated menu also includes dishes like egg biryani, egg aviyal, and egg roast alongside traditional and millet-based foods,” the official said.
As for whether the midday meals are provided as per the revised menu, Siby Augustine, headmaster of Government Lower Primary School (GLPS), Eloor, told TNIE, “The school has been serving fried rice and chicken curry often. However, compared to last year, ingredients’ prices have increased. The price of eggs has gone up by Rs 2, and the vegetables and cooking oil have also become dearer.”
Fund shortage often hits the schools hard.
“Fund crunch in the sense that we get the money from the state government very late. So, the principals and headmasters, along with the PTA, step in to pool money from their pockets. This was the situation throughout the 2025-26 academic year. The same was the situation before,” said a principal.
He pointed out that not all schools give biryani to the students.
“They follow the menu, but to serve biryani with the funds — Rs 6.78 per student from pre-primary to primary and Rs 10 per student for Classes 6 to 8 — is not viable. Most of the schools do that with additional funds from donors or the local self-government department,” he said.
According to Siby, nearly all students in the LP and UP sections avail the midday meal scheme.
“In my school, all but two students have opted for the midday meal scheme. They enjoy the food at school. Of course, in high schools, like in Classes 6 and 8, many students don’t opt for the midday meal scheme even though they too come under its ambit,” he said.
According to data with the general education department, in the 2025-26 academic year, 12,327 schools were a part of the midday meal scheme covering 24,77,337 students.
For the 2026-27 fiscal year, the Kerala budget allocated Rs 410.66 crore for the mid-day meal and supplementary nutrition programme. Additionally, the state government announced a Rs 25 increase in the daily wages for school mid-day meal workers.
Sample Menu Combinations
Rice, sambar, cabbage thoran
Rice, dal curry, spinach thoran
Rice, kadala masala, ivy gourd thoran
Rice, olan, banana flower thoran
Rice, soya curry, carrot thoran
Rice, vegetable kurma, beetroot thoran
Rice, theeyal, green gram thoran
Rice, erissery, muthira thoran
Rice, dal curry, moringa leaf thoran
Rice, sambar, egg aviyal
Rice, pineapple pachadi, koottu curry
Rice, paneer curry, cow pea thoran
Rice, jackfruit seed puzhukku, flat bean thoran
Rice, vellarikka pachadi, vanpayar thoran
Rice, okra mapas, kadala masala
Coconut rice, vegetable kurma
Egg biryani, vegetable molee
Carrot rice, egg pepper roast
Rice, dal kurma, aviyal
Lemon rice, kadala masala