Behind The Headlines: Chicken In Veg Food And The Real Mess In IIT Kharagpur's Mess

On 18 August 2025, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur), India’s first and largest IIT, completed its Platinum Jubilee year. Yet, shortly after this significant milestone, the Institute of Eminence found itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

What should have been a moment of celebration turned into a serious debate over food safety, vegetarian student rights, and administrative accountability at its BR Ambedkar Hall of Residence (BRH).

Incident Details

On 22 August, during dinner at BRH, students found pieces of chicken flesh and bones in chilly paneer, a dish served in the vegetarian section (attachment 1). Photographs of the contaminated food were widely shared across multiple WhatsApp groups that include boarders and hall council members (attachment 2).

The BRH Mess Secretary responded on the official vegetarian WhatsApp group, assuring students that fines would be imposed on the vendor after discussions with the hall council (attachment 3). Students were requested not to escalate the issue on social media to protect the reputations of the hall and the institute (attachment 4).

Administrative Response and Student Concerns

When a PhD scholar formally emailed the hall warden regarding the contamination, the warden’s response was reportedly sarcastic, questioning why the complainant “always” faced problems. Many students perceived this as a lack of empathy and seriousness.

Vegetarian boarders also expressed frustration that their substitutes for non-vegetarian dishes tended to be limited to watery lentils and vegetables, which they considered discriminatory.

Moreover, concerns were raised regarding the Hall Management Centre (HMC), the central body that oversees hostel mess contracts, which students allege prioritises contractors’ interests over those of the boarders (attachment 5).

Media Coverage and Information Leak

On 7 September, The Telegraph published an article titled Segregated seating: Non-Veg? IIT Kharagpur’s Hostel Separates Dining After Complaints. The report focused on alleged vegetarian–non-vegetarian segregation in BRH mess seating, emphasising the irony of such a practice in a hostel named after Dr B.R. Ambedkar, a champion against caste and social discrimination.

Students questioned how the media obtained details from a private email, reportedly sent by the mess secretary to boarders about the contamination. They asked why such internal communication was leaked without context.

More importantly, students questioned why the mess secretary, when responding to the media, did not highlight the primary cause of unrest, which was the food contamination, focusing instead mainly on the seating segregation.

Additionally, there has been no official communication from the hall warden, the institute’s public relations office, or other authorised officials, raising doubts over whether the mess secretary was authorised to speak to the media.

Following the incident, the HMC directed the warden to issue multiple warnings to the vendor but did not impose any financial penalties. Students found this response inadequate.

Students criticised media coverage for overlooking the root issue of food contamination, instead framing the controversy as an ideological division. They accused some media outlets of sensationalising campus tensions to damage IIT Kharagpur’s reputation.

Institutional Action and Student Reactions

Despite the seriousness of the contamination, the HMC enforced only warnings against the contractor. Students viewed this as symptomatic of systemic failure to hold vendors properly accountable (attachment 6).

Concerns also surfaced about the absence of regular Food Safety inspections and food hygiene audits.

Reports revealed some campus outlets operate under misleading names, such as “Super Duper,” which appear under different proprietors' names, such as Mir Tahir Ali, in QR codes, further shaking students’ confidence in food safety oversight (attachment 7).

Students urged that wardens should periodically eat in hostels to experience the realities of mess food and conditions firsthand.

Historical Context and Broader Concerns

The issue recalls a similar 2008 controversy when IIT Kharagpur attempted to abolish the vegetarian mess. The then-students, including Senior Advocate J. Sai Deepak, successfully resisted the move, ensuring vegetarians retained dedicated mess facilities.

While much media attention focused on the hall’s name, BR Ambedkar, it is noteworthy that the road leading to BRH is named after Mangal Pandey, whose historic revolt against colonial authorities was sparked by the issues related to the mixing of animal fat in the cartridges, which was offensive to his belief system. This historical parallel underlines the potency of food-related issues in Indian identity and protests.

Students stress that IIT Kharagpur, as an Institute of Eminence, must act decisively on food safety and welfare. They warn that ideology-driven groups may seize on surface controversies to defame the institute, similar to recent events at IIT Bombay and IIT Gandhinagar. More silenced issues could emerge from other IIT campuses if systemic problems remain unaddressed.

The Hall Management Centre clarified that no official rule mandates segregation of dining seating; only food preparation and distribution are separate.

Student Demands

Students have called for:

• Strict financial penalties against contractors violating food safety standards.

• Regular, mandatory inspections certified by the FSSAI across all campus food services.

• Periodic participation of wardens in hostel meals to evaluate conditions directly.

• Active involvement of the institute’s director in prioritising student welfare, especially food quality.

Vegetarian seating is an informal, mutually respected practice involving only a few tables out of around 1,400 boarders in BRH and is rarely strictly enforced.

Students believe the leakage of partial information to the media was intended to defame IIT Kharagpur’s brand. They call upon the media to exercise restraint, verify facts thoroughly, and avoid publishing replicated reports that stoke tensions without full inquiry.

For vegetarians affected, the issue extends beyond contamination; it is a profound violation of personal beliefs, causing lasting psychological distress.

As IIT Kharagpur completes 75 years of academic excellence, students caution that neglecting core welfare issues threatens to overshadow its legacy. They urge the administration to tackle these challenges transparently and comprehensively to uphold the institute’s reputation as a premier institution of India.

Note: The author is a current student at IIT-Kharagpur.