Poojappura jail set to enter chappathi Market

THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: The last thing one wants to taste would be prison food. But authorities of the Poojapura Central Prison in the capital city are determined to let the people have a taste of the food inside a prison and also remove all misconceptions.This may bring you images of police screaming at culprits saying, ‘’I will make you eat wheat balls.’’ But there is no need to panic, for prison authorities do not wish to put everyone behind  bars. They are only planning to market the taste and toil inside the prison to make a profit.According to B Pradeep,  Superintendent of the Central Prison, the plan is  to sell chappathis made in prison to the consumers outside, and thereby ensure an extra income. The extra income generated  would go to the welfare fund of the prisoners.Pradeep  has no doubt on the success of the venture, though many prison staff themselves doubt  how many people would be willing to buy the food prepared by convicts. ‘’The people have made all our earlier ventures a hit. It is the trust  in them that gives us the courage to try out the new scheme,’’  he says.The ‘Onachanda’   in which crops and vegetables cultivated by prisoners are sold to people outside is already a big hit.“This year, we had also started flower cultivation. The flowers are sold to shops at Chalai market, the profit of which alone crossed  Rs 30,000 within just six months,” Pradeep told Express. On April 19, 2011, an electric chappathi- making machine unit was installed in the prison, which helped produce more chappathis in a short time. The facility, which needs only minimum manual labour, was the first in the prisons in the state.“The machine has proved to be very efficient in making clean and hygienic food. This made us think of cashing in on its efficiency a bit more,’’ Pradeep adds.He  has forwarded a proposal to the state government in this regard after consulting with the ADGP Prisons, Alexander Jacob. The government has also made a favourable response.  Now, it is only a matter of time before the government order arrived for commencing the venture.However, one problem still nags the prison authorities. ‘’We need to sit down and come up with a nice name for our product, which will be  quite appealing to the people also. We know that it is not going to be an easy task,’’ Pradeep admitted.