‘Have your free meal from jail without the sacrifice of freedom,’ this seems to be the message the inmates of Ernakulam district jail are conveying to the poor and street urchins.
In a unique initiative, the prison authority here has launched a share meal scheme to serve free food to the poor and homeless.
The programme, which takes a cue from similar initiatives in the Western countries, envisages receiving contribution from people in the form of free-meals coupon from the prison retail store here.
“Any person visiting the store for jail-made products can purchase a free-meal coupon of Rs.25 and fasten it on a board placed outside the building.
People looking for free food can use the slip for purchasing a meal pack comprising five chapathis and an egg curry,” said Anil Kumar K, Superintendent, Ernakulam District Jail.
The jail authorities are also looking to tie-up with any voluntary agencies for distributing the coupons among the hospital patients or to any charity institution en bloc.
As per official estimates, the present daily turnover of the District jail from the sale of ‘Food for Freedom’ stands around Rs.15,000, which has now increased to Rs.45,000 with the opening of the new provision store here.
“The number of share meal coupons is expected to rise with the increased sales though the number of people availing it stands relatively on the lower side.
We are looking to rope in agencies from outside for the programme to have its desired effect,” the official added.
Recently, the jail authorities here opened a food court for the public, where food products made at the District jail here as well as at the Viyyur Central Jail, ranging from Biriyani, different types of curries and a host of other bakery products are sold.
As part of it, an automated Chapathi making unit has been set up at the Boston School, located adjacent to the jail. The authority plans to expand the product range to designer apparels, gadgets and grocery in the next stage. They are also in consultation with various residents associations with regard to launching on-line home delivery service.
