Absenteeism in Karnataka schools declined from 6.5% to just over 1% after the institutions began providing eggs along with midday meals six times a week instead of twice, the state government said, according to The Hindu.

The department of school education and literacy said that when eggs were provided twice a week, student attendance was 93.5%. However, after eggs were started to be given six times per week, the figure rose to 98.97%.

In August, when eggs were provided twice per week, 32.33 lakh students consumed eggs, 7.09 lakh chose to eat bananas and 8.70 crore opted for chikkis, the South First reported. In January, after egg distribution for six days per week began, as many as 6.64 crore students were consuming eggs. Another 1.61 crore opted for bananas and 2.32 crore opted for chikkis.

Bananas and chikkis were provided to students who did not want to eat eggs. The state government has now stopped distributing chikkis on account of poor quality.

The Kolar district had the highest number of students eating eggs at 84.16%, followed by Kodagu (83.89%) and Hassan (81.26%), The Hindu reported.

The Commissioner of the Department of School Education and Literacy KV Trilok Chandra said: “It has been observed that children’s attendance in schools has increased as eggs and bananas are being provided six days a week. This is a good development, as not only will malnutrition in children be reduced, but they will also develop academically.”

Community health doctor Sylvia Karpagam said that while the initiative is good on paper, attention needs to be paid to implementation. She said that organisations that follow caste-based codes have refused to follow government mandates on the midday meal scheme.

“Basically, they, not the government, make the rules,” she said, according to the South First.

Karpagam also said that children who do not eat eggs should be offered milk or dairy-based products as substitutes, not bananas.

Also read: Seven reasons why India needs eggs on the menu of midday meals