THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mutton and fish curry, which are relished by prison inmates, could soon be off the menu as the prisons department has submitted a proposal to the state government to that effect. The department has asked for the two dishes’ exclusion citing cost, health, and procurement concerns.
Prisons Director General S Sreejith conveyed the department’s wish to swap mutton and fish with chicken, soya chunks, and egg, in a letter to the home department earlier this month. Mutton is currently being served once a week, while fish is served twice. Fish is served as curry – 140g – for lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays, while 100 grams of boneless mutton is served for Saturday lunch.
The move, according to the prisons authorities, is expected to save them a few crores each year, amounting to much as Rs 5.7 crore. The expense for serving mutton comes to Rs 5.72 crore, while Rs 4.8 crore is incurred for serving fish.
Chicken can be served in place of mutton for just Rs 1.26 crore. Soya and egg can be served for Rs 3.4 crore instead of fish. The rising risk of cardiovascular health issues due to continuous use of red meat has also prompted the authorities to go for a tweak in jail menu, prison sources said.
Mutton has long been part of prison diet as it was introduced in 1967 replacing dried fish. Fish curry was included in 2014 as part of a wide revision of prison food menu that started with the phasing out of hard wheat balls (gothambunda) and dried fish in 2012.
While rest of the menu will remain the same, vegetarians will be served an additional portion of vegetable dishes on the day non-vegetarian diet is served. The prisoners are currently served idli, dosa, chapati and upma on alternative days as breakfast, along with green peas curry/bengal gram curry/sambar as well as tea.
For lunch and dinner, rice is the staple grain. Aviyal, theeyal, fried vegetables, pulissery, thoran and curd are served on a rotation basis for lunch. For dinner, tapioca masala, rasam, pickles are also served.
For physically ill or weak inmates, a special diet is provided as per the instruction of the medical officer. A special feast is served on 10 festival occasions, while inmates of open prison are served harvest feast at the end of every harvest season.