Annamalai warns Vijay govt of 200 million eggs hoarded for midday meals
BJP leader K Annamalai alleged that contractors in Tamil Nadu bulk-bought 200 million eggs during a price dip in March and stored them for school midday meals. He warned that the serving of rotten eggs during the previous DMK regime should not be repeated under CM Vijay's TVK government.
Contractors in Tamil Nadu have stocked 200 million eggs when prices dropped in March, planning to supply them to children for midday meals throughout the year, BJP leader K Annamalai said on Wednesday. Tamil Nadu has witnessed several cases of rotten eggs in midday meals, and Annamalai's warning to the current C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government comes against this backdrop.
In a post on X, Annamalai warned the Vijay-led TVK government of the millions of eggs that had reportedly been stored in cold storage for supply to schools in Tamil Nadu. He said the eggs had been procured by the contractors when prices dropped to Rs 3.70 apiece. The Tamil Nadu government, he said, has a fixed price for eggs at Rs 5.63 apiece.
Prices of eggs had dropped in March, coinciding with the war in the Middle East, when demand dropped amid supply-chain disruptions.
"The Tamil Nadu government provides a fixed price of Rs 5.63 per egg throughout the year for the eggs supplied under the midday meal scheme for school students. In this context, reports have emerged that when the price of an egg dropped to Rs 3.70 last March, contractors purchased around 200 million eggs in bulk and stored them in cold storage facilities," Annamalai posted on X.
Annamalai said that it appeared that the contractors "planned to stockpile large quantities at a lower price and supply them to school students throughout the year".
The BJP leader said it wasn't a procurement-related issue but a matter that concerned the "health of lakhs of schoolchildren and the trust of their parents".
Eggs can remain good for consumption for up to five weeks if stored under proper conditions, according to the American Egg Board. Going by what Annamalai is suggesting, the millions of eggs being hoarded in cold storages would cross their use-by date by the time they are supplied for midday meals to schools.
"An egg is not a product that can remain unspoiled for an extended period. When stored in cold storage for months on end and then transported to remote rural schools, its quality, nutritional value, and food safety are certain to be compromised," wrote Annamalai.
"No negligence whatsoever can be tolerated in the quality of food provided to children," wrote Annamalai on X.
Approximately 40.82 lakh students benefit from the Nutritious Noon Meal Programme (midday meal) daily in Tamil Nadu, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment of Tamil Nadu.
The scheme covers nearly 19.37 lakh students in primary schools and 21.45 lakh in upper primary and high schools, across approximately 43,000 educational institutions.