According to various reports, the Kerala Students Union (KSU) has organised a protest at Kattappana ITI over the omission of beef from the lunch menu. It is alleged that the move aims at supporting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) beef ban. As marking their protest against the move, the KSU has organised a beef fest in front of the ITI.
The state government is providing free lunch to all the students of Idukki and Wayanad along with all the women ITIs in the state. Although chicken and mutton dishes are served, KSU is protesting over the non-inclusion of beef items on the menu.
According to officials of ITI, they can only serve items according to the menu and it is the government that needs to decide on the matter. Reportedly, KSU is planning to organise a strike if no action was taken on their complaint.
This is not the first time beef has created controversy in Kerala. Earlier, the controversy erupts over the deletion of beef from the menu for fresh recruits who began training at the Kerala police academy last February. Initially, the menu comprised of fish, chicken, beef, mutton and egg, and beef was served twice a week.
This wasn't the first time that beef was removed from the menu for trainees at the police academy. An "unofficial been ban" was allegedly introduced by the then Inspector General of Training in 2014, which had created a row of controversy.
