No more 'puris', 'vadas' for breakfast in Odisha college canteens

The Odisha government has directed colleges to reduce cooking oil use and avoid deep-fried breakfast items like 'puris' and 'vadas'. The move is in response to global supply chain issues and the resulting food, fuel, and fertiliser crisis.

The Odisha government has directed all government and non-government aided colleges to reduce the use of cooking oil and avoid 'puris', 'vadas' and 'bondas' for breakfast in canteens.

Global Crises Cited as Reason

The world has been facing repeated supply chain disruptions and crises since the Covid pandemic, Higher Education Department Deputy Secretary Ramesh Chandra Behera said in a letter issued on Friday. The conflict in Ukraine also resulted in supply-side issues of food, fertiliser and fuel. The recent conflict in Iran has further exacerbated this food, fuel and fertiliser crisis, as per the letter.

"No country in the world is immune to the economic impact of the crisis," he said in the letter, Many countries have taken various measures to manage the reduction of fuel demand. India is also facing the negative consequences of this long-standing crisis, Behera noted in his letter.

Specific Directives Issued

Prime Minister has made a public appeal to the citizens of India to contribute in small ways towards the situation India is facing, Behera said "Avoid high-oil menu items like puris, vadas and bondas in breakfast, reduce deep-fried food without compromising nutrition and promote use of traditional ghee, mustard oil and groundnut oil over imported palm/sunflower/soyabean oil," the letter added.

The National Service Scheme (NSS) and Youth Red Cross (YRC) may organise awareness programmes in community to reduce oil in household day-to-day cooking, the letter asked.

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