Can you imagine lapping up five chappathis and chicken curry for Rs 30. At a time when the food prices are escalating, the low-priced chappathis made in jails are becoming a hit. Youngsters and housewives in and around Kakkanad where the district jail is located are making a beeline for them. Over 50,000 chappathis are sold to the public every month at Ernakulam District Jail now. When they started the venture in January this year, about 30,000 chappathis were sold each month.
According to Sudheer, Jail Superintendent, one of the reasons for the high demand is the introduction of chicken curry. “We started preparing and selling chicken curry from this month onwards after which the sale of chappathis rose. These days we sell at least 800 packets of chappathi every day. Each day we make a business of Rs 25,000. Earlier, only one shift was allotted for chappathi making. But since the demand has increased we have two shifts for making chappathis and curry now. In each shift, we depute 12 inmates for the purpose,” Sudheer said.
The jail officials said that they are also looking out for supplying chappathis in other parts of the city. But nothing has been finalised till now. “Each chappathi costs about Rs 2, vegetable and egg curry, Rs 10 and chicken curry, Rs 20. The people coming here to buy them at the counter outside the jail are of the opinion that our curries are tastier than those at other outlets. We don’t add any artificial ingredients to increase taste and flavour. Curries are prepared the way it is made at home. Each inmate deputed for the preparation is given Rs 117 per day,” Jail official said.
Even when the price of the chicken is around Rs 160 a kg and most hotels increase the prices of chicken dishes, the jail officials retain the same price and have no plans to raise it. “Since there is high demand for the chicken, we can manage to run the business at this price. Some of dealers provide chicken at whole-sale prices. There were rumours that prices would be increased, but the higher-ups have given orders to continue with the same price,” Jail officials said.
