Rajyotsava gift: better food for prisoners

As a Rajyotsava day gift to all prisoners housed in prisons and sub jails, the State government has decided to revise the menu of food served to them and enhance the amount sanctioned for providing sweets on the occasion of national holidays.

After a gap of 37 years, the State government has changed the Jail Manual, to vary the menu provided to convicts and under-trials.

In-charge Jail Superintendent of the high-security Gulbarga Central Prison Mallikarjun Swamy told The Hindu in Gulbarga city on Saturday that the changes in food menu would come into effect from November 1, Rajyotsava Day.

As per the changed menu, instead of providing mutton once a week regularly, the government has decided to add chicken in the menu. The inmates will be served chicken and mutton alternately every week. In addition, the government has decided to provide one egg each to prisoners once in a week.

It has also been decided to serve fish curry to prisoners housed in prisons located in the coastal districts for the first time.

Dr. Swamy said that for vegetarian prisoners, the jail authorities have been directed to provide one sweet on the day when mutton/chicken is provided to prisoners who eat non-vegetarian fare.

The government has also decided to add tomato rice in the list of items served as breakfast to prisoners from November 1. For breakfast, puffed rice, uppit , chitranna , vegetable pulao and vangibath is served in turn every day. Tomato rice has been added as per the recommendations of the CFTRI and other organisations.

Dr. Swamy said that Additional Director General of Police (Prison) K.V. Gagandeep was mainly responsible for introducing the changes, after persuading the State government to accept the proposal for amending the prison manual keeping in mind the welfare of prisoners.

Sweet fare

The State government has also decided to increase the amount sanctioned for providing sweets during national holidays like Independence Day, Rajyotsava Day, Republic Day, and Gandhi Jayanthi from Rs. 3 per prisoner to Rs. 10 per prisoner with immediate effect.