In the Shivamogga district of Karnataka, a Brahmin schoolgirl has alleged that she was forcefully fed eggs in a mid-day meal at a state-run school in Kammachi village of Hosangara Taluka. On Wednesday, November 22, the class 2 student’s father, V Srikanth, submitted a complaint letter against the Karnataka Public School (KPS) to a Department of Education official in this regard. Notably, V Srikanth is reported to be working as a high school teacher at the same school.
In his letter to Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) CR Parmeswarappa, V Srikanth said that the act of force-feeding eggs to his daughter by an assistant teacher named Puttaswamy has hurt his religious sentiments. He also demanded stern action against the teacher in question and the school’s headmaster. The class 2 student’s father stated in his complaint that they had earlier notified the school authorities that they maintain a strict vegetarian diet. However knowing this, he claimed, the teacher forced fed eggs to his daughter in her mid-day meal at school.
Srikanth informed the DDPI that 26 students are studying in class 2 at KPS, out of whom 10 follow a vegetarian diet. He wrote that his 7-year-old daughter had asked the school authorities to give her Chikkis instead of eggs, however, assistant teacher Puttaswamy told the girl that eggs are good for health. “My daughter fell ill and is mentally disturbed,” Srikanth wrote.
The complaint was also sent to the Minister of Education, Madhu Bangarappa, the Principal Secretary, the Deputy Director of Education, and the local MLA.
Following this, an inquiry has been initiated into the matter. On Thursday, the Block Education Officer and a mid-day meal attendant visited the school in question. “As per the preliminary inquiry conducted, it has come to notice that the incident took place when the midday meal was being served. A group of students was sitting in a row for meals. Just then, the teacher concerned asked the students who preferred to have eggs. So, this particular child also seemed to have raised her hands with the rest of her classmates and so was served egg. But, no student including this child in particular were forced to eat eggs,” Hindustan Times quoted a senior education department official as saying.
Meanwhile, DDPI Shivamogga CR Parmeswarappa has said that the issue has been taken up seriously, however, as per the information received, the girl was not forced to eat eggs. He added that the report submitted by the Block Education Officer will be reviewed and action will be taken if the allegations are found to be true.
However, several media reports claim that the family of the Brahmin girl has said that the teacher pressured the girl for a week to eat eggs and even threatened her against informing anyone about the same.
“For the past week, my daughter was complaining that her teacher was forcing her to eat an egg. I had ignored it. But on November 20, my daughter was silent, When her mother enquired, the child revealed that her teacher had forced her to eat an egg. When we spoke to other class students, they confirmed that all students of class two were made to eat an egg. My daughter was scared. She feared her teacher in her class and at home she was scared of our reaction after she told us that she had eaten an egg. The teacher used our caste and forced her to eat an egg to make a point that people of all castes can eat eggs. We have filed a complaint and are waiting for their response,” Srikanth said in a video, as reported by News9.
