Kochiites need not go up to Kakkanad to get a taste of the delicious chapatis and chicken curry rolled out from the District Jail. The Prison Department is all set to open a new outlet of ‘Metro Chapati’, made by the inmates of the District Jail, at Marine Drive.
According to T Sudheer, Superintendent of the Jail, the new outlet will be launched at Marine Drive as part of expansion of ‘Metro Chapati’ project. “The proposal in this regard has been approved by the higher-ups and we also conducted a discussion with the GCDA for providing a small area, near Parade Ground, on Marine Ground for setting up the outlet. The GCDA has agreed to give land for constructing a stall. We hope to commence the sale by next month. We can provide the dishes to people residing and working in and around the heart of the city,” he said.
The officials in the District Jail said that they have asked for an additional vehicle and personnel to operate the outlet. “A proposal for additional personnel and a vehicle has been sent to the higher-ups and we hope to get the approval soon. Around 20,000 chapatis are being sold at the outlet near the District Jail. With the opening of the new outlet, we expect the demand and sale to go up,” an official said.
A packet of five chapatis and chicken curry costs `25, whereas a plate chapatis with vegetable curry costs `20. Around 10 to 20 inmates are engaged in making chapati and curry on a shift basis and each one earns `117 daily.
Last month, the jail chapati and curry recorded the highest sale by which jail officials earned `7,22,705. Officials said they sell around 60,000 chapatis daily at the outlet. The profit from the sale was `5,27,859. The Department has earned a profit of `14,70,601 after starting the sale of chapati and curry at Kakkanad jail from January 26 this year.
Employees from Infopark, FACT, BPCL and local residents regularly buy chapatis from the outlet. The officials are also planning to have more number of chapati making machines if the demand increases further.
During Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s mass contact programme, chapatis and curry worth ` 70,000 were sold on a single day.
Officials with the District Jail said the name ‘Metro Chapati’ was chosen as Kochi is fast becoming a metro city and the Metro Rail is in the offing. ‘Poojappura’ chapatis from Poojappura Central Jail, Thiruvananthapuram; Freedom Chapati from Viyyur Central Prison, Thrissur, and Kannur Central Prison, and ‘Santhwanam’ Chapati from Kozhikode District Jail are also selling like hot cakes.