This jailhouse bakery rocks with top-selling snacks

BENGALURU: Advocates and policemen queue up in the Karnataka High Court premises every day to savour delicious snacks prepared by the very people they may have incriminated -the prisoners of the city central prison.
Over the past two months, the premises have been a good market for fresh frankies, honey cakes, vegetable puffs, bread toast, biscuits and cookies baked by 40 prisoners at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail's bakery as part of its vocational programme.

Such is the demand for these items that the Prisons Department is considering asking the High Court for a small outlet in its premises. As of now, the baked foods are brought to the High Court in a van and sales are manned by a prison constable.

“Lawyers, policemen, court staff and even litigants wait for me to drive in every day," said jail constable Mahadeva C, who mans the sales owing to his prior experience of running his own shop. “Initially , the sales were to the extent of Rs 1,000-1,500. This has shot up to Rs 7,000-8,000 every day . I reach here around 12.30pm, and it takes less than three hours for the van to go empty ," Mahadeva said.

The snacks are delectable because prisoners do not use chemicals or artificial ingredients to prepare them. “The vegetables used for the products are organic, grown in the open air of the jail," Additional DGP (Prisons) Kamal Pant told ET. The idea, he said, is to encourage and support people with positive aspects of life.

Earnings from the sales reach these prisoners directly, helping them make ends meet and giving them a confidence boost.

“The snacks are so good that I pack some for home," said TL Suhas, an advocate. “ All the products are fresh, tasty and priced low for the quantity ."

While the Prisons Department is mulling over setting up a dedicated outlet for these items, it is yet to get around the expenses. “Once an outlet is set up, we'll have to employ salaried staff. Another plan we have is to ask the High Court canteen and other vendors to sell our products," Pant said.

At the central jail, with growing demand chances are that the bakery facility inside the prison will also expand.

The bright side of this is that prisoners can look after their own once they are released, Pant said.