KOCHI: The Kerala prisons and correctional service department has revised the diet of prisoners following the recommendations of an expert panel and adhering to guidelines set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the jail. The prisoners now get more upma three times a week for breakfast and less rice for lunch and dinner as per the revised diet of prisoners.
The state government last week approved the new diet plan. Though there are no changes made in the menu of the prisoners, there are pluses and minuses made in the number of ingredients used in the food given to prisoners.
Currently, the breakfast for prisoners are idli, dosa, sambar (Sunday); chappati and Bengal gram curry (Monday, Wednesday and Friday); and upma, green piece curry (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). Tea is provided for breakfast. For lunch, there are rice, aviyal, theeyal and curd on Sunday; rice, fish curry, fried vegetables and pulissery on Monday; rice, sambar, curd and aviyal on Tuesday; rice, fish curry and pulissery on Wednesday; rice, aviyal, sambar and curd on Thursday; rice, erussery, aviyal and pulissery on Friday; and rice, thoran, mutton curry and pulissery given on Saturday. Tea break is in the evening.
The dinner include rice, thoran and rasam on Sunday; rice, tapioca masala and rasam and pickle on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday; and rice, thoran and curries like green gram and theeyal on rest of the days.
“Earlier, along with upma, prisoners were given a banana for the breakfast. Now as per the revised diet, we give around 50 grams green piece curry per head. There is a specification for the number of ingredients added for preparing green piece curry per head like 13 grams of onion, 125 grams ginger, 1.25 gram garam masala, 3.5 gram chilli and 2.5 milligrams of coconut oil and 2.5 milligrams of salt,” an official said.
The department has also limited the quantity of rice for each prisoner from 450 grams to 400 grams. The quantity of tapioca given to the prisoner per head is brought down to 250 grams from 340 grams. Similarly, the consumption of salt by each prisoner in food is brought down from 45 grams to 20 grams. The quantity of rava used for preparing upma increased from 150 grams to 200 grams per head.
Though attempts were made to get the version of Director-General of Prisons about the new diet plan for prisoners, he could not be reached.