Indian jail bags five-star certificate for food quality

Prison awarded rating for high-grade meals it provides to inmates

By PTI

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Published: Fri 2 Sep 2022, 7:22 PM

Last updated: Fri 2 Sep 2022, 8:54 PM

The food served to the over 1,100 inmates lodged in a district jail in Fatehgarh in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has undergone a rather tasty makeover, and it has received a five-star rating from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The certificate reads, “District Jail Fatehgarh, Farrukhabad is certified as Eat Right CAMPUS as per guidelines established by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.”


The statement was followed by the rating and ‘excellent’ written on the certificate.

Elaborating on the achievement, jailor Akhilesh Kumar told PTI, “We got the certificate after a third party audit, and before the certificate was given to us, some of the jail staff were given online training.”


The criteria on which they were judged for ratings included cleanliness, quality of food, purchase of rice, wheat and pulses and staff dress, he said, adding that vegetarian food is served in the jail.

“Every day different types of food is served to the inmates. Among the pulses, arhar, masoor, chana and urad are served on a rotational basis,” Kumar said.

“For breakfast, on two days were serve chana (gram), on two days pav, and the other three days we give dalia (porridge),” he said, adding that different types of dals (pulses) are served in different meals.

“As far as Sundays are concerned, on the first, third and last Sunday, poori, sabji and halwa is served in the evening. On the second Sunday, kadhi-chawal is served, ” he said.

The meals are cooked by 30-35 inmates. At present, there are as many as 1,144 inmates, who are lodged in the facility.

“The inmates who are engaged in making food wear clean aprons, as seen in restaurants. Efforts are made to ensure that those involved in cooking have their nails and hair cut,” the jailor said.

The jail has also upgraded its kitchen with the latest gadgets like roti-making machines, dough-kneading and vegetable cutting machines. The quality of food is checked daily, Kumar said.

When asked whether anything special was cooked on Independence Day, Kumar said, “A special feast was organised, and the District Magistrate served food to the first batch. The jail staff and inmates ate together.”

Jail superintendent Bheemsain Mukund said, “In March, we got the FSSAI licence, then there was a third-party audit in May, and in August we got the certificate. The parameters on the basis of which, we got the certificate will be maintained."


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