Former students of NIMHANS have written an open letter on July 19, urging for an immediate withdrawal of the position paper on health and wellbeing published by the Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) in Karnataka. The position paper outlines the opinion of the state government on health and wellbeing and is one of the 26 papers submitted on various topics determined by the Union government. Each of these papers has been published by a sub-committee, appointed by the Karnataka Task Force for implementation of National Education Policy.
Six alumni of NIMHANS who have written the open letter called the report “outrageous, outdated, unscientific and frivolous.” The letter also demanded the immediate disassociation of NIMHANS from the report and resignation of Dr K John Vijay Sagar, Professor and Head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry NIMHANS, who is the chairperson of the committee that submitted the report. Further, the doctors pointed out that the expert group did not have any paediatrician as its member, but was rather written by Ayurveda and yoga practitioners.
The letter has debunked assertions made in the position paper about how consumption of eggs and meat leads to lifestyle disorders. “The elaborate study done by the Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University, Gadag on providing supplementary nutrition under mid-day meal scheme in Yadgir and Gadag districts has very clearly showed that children of Yadgir who received eggs in their mid-day meal had significant gains in weight and Body Mass Index (BMI). Considering such improvements, both the state and the Central governments have already decided to extend the provision of eggs in the seven districts and also now approved similar provision of eggs in other districts as well for 46 days of the year. Therefore, the recommendation of the position paper completely goes against the decision of the Karnataka government. We hereby urge the government to extend the provision of eggs in mid-day meals for a minimum of 150 days,” the doctors urged.
Finally, the letter says, “For these self-styled experts who are very fond of Jaiminiya Brahmana, Ayurveda, and such other ancient texts, we hereby suggest the reading of Shatapatha Brahmana (11.7.1.3 and 12.9.1.1), Jaiminiya Brahmana (1.42-44) and Manu Smriti (5:28-33), Charaka Samhita (Sharira Sthana 4:36-40 and 8:16, Sutra Sthana 27), Ashtanga Hridaya (Sutra Sthana 6) and Bhagavad Gita (17:8-10) that endorse, extoll and provide spiritual justifications for eating animal-based foods. We also suggest that they read the teachings and writings of Buddha and Basavanna, the most respected visionary philosophers of India.”
The position paper on health and wellbeing has received flak for promoting right wing ideologies such as one must be healthy in order to fulfil the “four goals of life” – Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. The position paper also claims that eggs, flavoured milk and biscuits, should be forbidden to prevent obesity and hormonal imbalance in children. It further said serving other recipes or foods to the same graders, such as egg in comparison to serving them grams or banana would result in a nutritional imbalance among children. The nutritional imbalance would then lead to developmental complications developing in children leading to “emotional distress”, the paper claimed.