In order to ensure that inmates feel included in the celebrations, correctional homes in West Bengal have decided to serve special meals during Durga Puja festivities.
The festive menu will include dishes like mutton biryani, ‘basanti pulao’, and other Bengali cuisines for both convicts and undertrials. An official stated, “We get requests from inmates for better food during every festival. We have got a new menu this year and are hopeful that this will bring smiles to their faces. I personally consider this as a very positive move to reform them.”
The festive menu will be served to the inmates from Shasthi (October 9) to Dashami (October 12), covering the key days of Durga Puja. “We regularly receive requests from inmates for better food during festivals. This new menu is a step towards making the celebrations special for them. I see this as a positive move toward their rehabilitation,” said a senior official.
The dishes will be prepared by the inmates who work as cooks and the menu will include ‘Macher matha diye pui shak’ (spinach with fish head), ‘macher matha diye dal’ (daal with fish head), ‘luchi-cholar dal’ (puri and Bengali chana dal), ‘payesh’ (Bengali porridge), chicken curry, ‘alu potol chingri’ (shrimp with pointed gourd and potato), mutton biryani with ‘raita’ (mixed curd), and ‘basanti pulao’ (yellow pulao).