Naini jail inmates to get “Special Sunday Thali”
PRAYAGRAJ : In a move aimed at improving the quality of food served to prisoners, the Naini central jail administration is introducing “Sunday Special Thali” wherein the jail inmates will be served yummy dishes as a weekend treat. As part of the initiative, instead of the usual pulses, rice, roti and drab seasonal veggies that they get in meals during the week, the inmates would now be served “puri sabzi”, “kadhi” and even vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli on Sundays.
The move follows director general of prisons, UP, Anand Kumar’s efforts to improve the standard and quality of food being served in prisons across the state. He even tweeted and shared videos of “paneer” being made in Fatehgarh jail on January 16. Earlier, he had tweeted pictures of a variety of vegetables being grown in prisons farms (January 14, 2022 and December 16, 2021) and special meals being cooked and served on festivals like “Makar Sankranti” (January 14) as part of the effort.
Naini central jail has the capacity of housing 2,026 inmates but presently it has over 4,300 inmates locked up. The jail has witnessed prisoners raising the issue of poor living standards and food quality on several occasions in the past. “Continuous efforts are being made to improve the standard of living and food of the inmates in the prison. In this sequence, now an initiative has been taken to provide special Thali every Sunday,” said PN Pandey, senior jail superintendent of Naini jail.
He said till now special dishes were prepared only special occasions like the Independence Day and the Republic Day besides festivals like Holi and Diwali. “Special food has also been served on other festivals,” he added. Officials shared that though no specific orders for special food to be served on Sundays has as such been issued but orders to improve the quality of food so as to ensure nutritious and balanced diet in accordance with the UP Jail Manual had been issued.