LUCKNOW, July 16 -- King George's Medical University's (KGMU) decision to ban the cooking and serving of non-vegetarian food in all hostel messes sparked a controversy on Wednesday as religious leaders, doctors and faculty members questioned the scientific basis of the move and urged the administration to withdraw the order. The controversy erupted after the university directed all 18 major and three smaller hostel messes to stop cooking and serving non-vegetarian food following governor Anandiben Patel's recent inspection of the campus, during which she flagged concerns over food quality and non-vegetarian food being prepared in some hostel messes. Islamic scholar Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said the decision was inconsistent with the scientific understanding of nutrition and inappropriate for one of the country's premier medical institutions. "More than 61% of Indians are non-vegetarian. From a medical standpoint, non-vegetarian food is clearly beneficial for human health and helps boost immunity. If decisions like this are made at prestigious medical colleges such as KGMU, it sends a very wrong message. I urge the KGMU administration to withdraw this decision," he said. The move has also drawn criticism from within KGMU. An orthopedics faculty member, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the decision as "completely unjustified." "Every individual has the right to choose what they eat. A university should not dictate dietary preferences. Students come from diverse cultural and social backgrounds, and their food choices must be respected," the faculty member said. Faculty members claimed that while the university's order only prohibited non-vegetarian food, several hostel mess operators have also stopped serving eggs. However, KGMU spokesperson Prof KK Singh said, "Eggs have never been cooked or served in any of the university-run messes. We are committed to improving the quality of food served to students. High-quality paneer will be introduced in the messes to ensure that students receive a protein-rich diet." Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan adopted a measured stand on the issue. "I believe that if such a decision has been taken, it would have been done keeping in mind the sentiments of the local people," he told reporters in Lucknow....