Bengaluru: The health department has decided to drop eggs from its special nutritional diet plan, introduced at three govt hospitals in the city.The decision was made as Iskcon, the organisation supplying the meals, only provides Satvik food. “Iskcon doesn’t use eggs. Hence, we’ll be giving soya chunks as a source of protein. We don’t want to compromise on protein content in the diet. All other necessary nutrients will be included,” said health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao at the programme’s formal launch Tuesday.The initial govt order stated that eggs could be included in the lunch and dinner menus, with soya chunks being an alternative. Now, instead of one egg, 22 grams of soya chunks will be included in the hospital meals, which also won’t have ingredients such as onion and garlic.Rao said Iskcon was chosen for the programme because of its experience in meal supply. “They have expertise in this area and know how to prepare food on a large scale as they have been serving midday meals for years now,” he said.The health department had earlier issued tenders for supply of eggs to some govt hospitals. When asked if the same could be extended to these hospitals, the minister replied in the negative, saying it would affect standardisation of meals.Food will be provided five times a day to inpatients in KC General Hospital in Malleswaram, Jayanagar General Hospital in Jayanagar, and Sir CV Raman General Hospital in Indiranagar. Breakfast includes items such as rava upma, wheat porridge and pongal; mid-morning snacks include banana, buttermilk and milk; lunch will be ragi balls, rice, sambar and soya chunks; evening snacks comprise biscuits, peanut chikki and milk; and dinner includes chapati, curry and soya chunks.In each hospital, around 250 inpatients are expected to benefit from the nutritional diet programme, which has been implemented at a cost of almost Rs 1.4 crore for nine months. The cost of one day’s meal per patient is Rs 183 under general diet category, Rs 210 for therapeutic diet, Rs 225 (pregnancy/lactating mothers), and Rs 170 (paediatric diet).Depending on the programme’s implementation for one month at the three Bengaluru hospitals, the health department plans to expand it to govt hospitals in districts where Iskcon has kitchens. “In other districts, we’ll collaborate with NGOs if they come forward,” Rao said.Ramya, a patient in the gynaecology ward at CV Raman hospital, who ate lunch distributed under the programme, said: “It tastes better than what we got here earlier.”
