Special menu for inmates in Kolkata’s prison during Durga Puja
For the prisoners at Presidency Central Correctional Home in south Kolkata, this Durga Puja brings something new. The prison authorities will be arranging a special menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for all 2,500 inmates for the Durga Puja celebrations. They will get food different than usual from October 2 to 5.
The reason behind a special menu is to add some fun in the life of prisoners inside the prison.
The special menu has different food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone. Also, non-vegetarian food is a big part of this special menu except for Maha Ashtami. Ashtami falls on October 3 and they will only get vegetarian food on that day.
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Sumptuous meal
“The inmates will be served with sumptuous vegetarian food like khichuri, polao, luchi, dum aloo, paneer masala and navratan korma as decided as yet,” an agency report quoted a correctional services department official.
The official said that the prison authorities are also serving non-vegetarian foods as Durga Puja for Bengalis is incomplete without fish and meat.
The other three days, there will be a variety of non-vegetarian delicacies such as mutton biryani, mutton kalia, variety of fish and shrimp items, fried rice and chilli chicken, among others. Rasgullas and Laddus will be there on each day to ensure a sweet ending.
For Partha’s benefit?
The correctional home authorities denied that this special arrangement was made keeping the former West Bengal education and commerce & industries minister Partha Chatterjee, who is an inmate in this prison, in mind.
“On every major occasion, we try to make special arrangements for the inmates to give relief from their otherwise mundane lives. This is nothing new. What is new is that this time the former minister will be among the inmates,” the correctional services department official said.
As per the court order, Chatterjee will have to be behind the bars till October 31. Incidentally, he will also be spending his 70th birthday in the prison on October 6.