A first: Inmates to run eatery on Patiala jail campus

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 10

The Central Jail, Patiala, a home to more than 1,800 inmates, will soon run a canteen-cum-cafeteria that will offer food prepared by undertrials to the public at nominal prices. It will be the first jail in the state to implement the programme, which focuses on the eventual rehabilitation of prisoners.

The cafe, to be supervised by the jail staff, will have lassi, samosa, sweets, Verka and Markfed products and a vegetarian thali on the menu. The eatery is likely to be operational by this week. It will not have a full kitchen and most items will be supplied by the jail canteen, also run by inmates. It is also connected to the prison store that sells prison-made goods.

Jail Superintendent Rajan Kapoor said the idea is to reform prisoners. Besides, we get requests for jail food from outside because many astrologers suggest people to have jail food to keep bad omen at bay. He said once successful, the project would be implemented in other jails as well. Jails Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa said the initiative was aimed at reforming prisoners and income generated from the eatery would be utilised to improve facilities for inmates.

In the initial phase, 16 inmates have been shortlisted on the basis of their good conduct to run the eatery. One of the shortlisted inmates said, “The scheme will give us a chance to interact with outsiders and experience social acceptance.”