¡®Jail ka khana¡¯ has for long carried a negative connotation. We¡¯ve all been under the impression that prison inmates have it bad when it comes to food.
Jails across the country have been infamous for their food quality. However, one jail in Kerala is busting this age-old myth in style.
Would you believe if we told you that people are literally lining up to get a taste of jail food? Well, it¡¯s actually happening in Thrissur¡¯s Viyyur Central jail.
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The food prepared by inmates in this jail is said to be so good that authorities are planning to take things to the next level by making it available online!
Freedom Food Factory, the enterprise selling food prepared by inmates at Kerala¡¯s prisons, has decided to expand its customer base by partnering with the online food delivery chain ¡®Swiggy¡¯.
According to a PTI report, in the first phase, the plan is to sell biriyani combo online, priced at Rs 127.
The combo, which was specifically designed for online sale, includes 300 grams of biriyani rice, one roasted chicken leg piece, three chappatis, a cup cake, salad, pickle and one litre bottled water along with a plantain leaf to eat the food.
Now that¡¯s the fancy new jail food avatar for you. Nirmalanandan Nair, the superintendent of the Viyyur central jail that the idea germinated from Rishiraj Singh, the popular IPS officer currently serving as DGP in charge of jails.
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"We started making and selling chappatis in 2011. It was the Viyyur Central jail which started making chappatis on commercial scale. The idea of going online was proposed by jail DGP Rishiraj Singh," Nirmalanandan Nair told PTI.
Nair said Singh collective decided that since the food was so popular among the public for it¡¯s quality and value for money that things should be taken to next level for increasing it¡¯s sale and encouraging the inmates.
"We have already been selling various biriyanis, non-vegetarian curries, bakery items and other from Viyyur jail. We also have counter sales. But now we have decided to go online and sell a biriyani combo initially," he added.
Noting that the new facility would start from July 11, Nair said based on the feedback more items would be sold online.
"This does not mean that we are stopping the over-the-counter sale. As of now, Swiggy will deliver food within six km radius," he said.
At present, the jail sells around 25,000 chappatis, and over 500 biryanis a day, which is prepared by around 100 inmates, who are supervised by prison officials.
Apart from these special food services the prison department is also considering a proposal to open portals of one of its central jails for common people to spend a day and night there to get the 'feel' of jail life by charging a fee.
The 'pay and stay' initiative is planned as part of a unique prison museum coming up in the premises of Viyyur Central prison in Thrissur district.
To prove that jail food is seriously delicious here¡¯s a recent incident that took place in Chennai. A 52-year-old man named Gnanaprakasam who was let out on bail, deliberately stole a bike and petrol from a parking lot in the city, made sure his face was visible on CCTV, to get arrested again, all so he could eat jail food again.
He stole a bike from Kailasapuram First Street in West Tambaram. He made sure that a CCTV camera caught him in the act and started roaming the city. Whenever the bike ran out of fuel, he stole petrol from vehicles parked on the road, his statement read.
Gnanaprakasam was apparently not very happy to be home as his family members did not take care of him and he did everything to get back to prison life.