Food fest begins at Alipore Central Correctional Home

Mouthwatering dishes that include noodles, momos, fried rice and chilly chicken feature in the menu card of the 11-day-long food fest which started at Alipore Central Correctional Home on Friday. 

The food fest, which will step in its 40th year, is being organised in the last week of December every year. During the fest, inmates get an opportunity to enjoy various types of food. 

According to a source in the correctional home, there is self help group comprised of 10 inmates in the correctional home. 

They run a food stall round the year and get special permission to organise the food fest in the last week of December every year. 

Family members of the inmates deposit money with the correctional home authorities. A particular official of the correctional home is assigned to distribute coupon, worth certain amount, to an inmate to buy food from the stalls during food fest. The amount gets deducted from the money deposited by family members of an inmate. No cash money is given to any inmate. 

Momos, fried rice, chilly chicken, pastries, cakes and noodles are some of the food items which are usually prepared during the food fest. It may be mentioned that the former transport minister Madan Mitra, who was arrested in connection with the Saradha Group scam, is in Alipore Central Correctional home. 

In a bid to come out of having the same meal every day the inmates will get a chance to excite their taste buds. 

The correctional home authorities have plans to organise more such programmes and they are planning whether Bengali sweets like pithe can be made available in the food fest.

The initiative also helps the member of the self help group to run the stall smoothly.