Delhi's Tihar jail sets up restaurant, inmates trained in hotel management to cook food

Delhi's Tihar Jail has set up a restaurant where its inmates trained in hotel management will cook and serve food. The air-conditioned restaurant on Jail Road is operational but is yet to be launched on full-scale.

"Our aim is to serve quality food at reasonable rates. Several inmates of Tihar's semi-open prison have undergone hotel management training a month ago under a Ministry of Tourism initiative and now they'll be trying their hands on it professionally," Tihar Jail PRO Sunil Gupta said.

Prisoners who have a track record of good conduct, not accused of heinous crime and are physically and mentally fit are selected for semi-open prison (SOP). To be eligible for SOP, an inmate's jail term should not be above 12 years.

Gupta said the restaurant has so far received good response and the people are excited about the kind of food that will be served here.

The restaurant, which has a seating capacity of 50 persons, is open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. It will also deliver food in areas falling within a radius of one km.

Around 10 of the 45-50 inmates who underwent training in house keeping, cooking and hotel management are at present working at the restaurant. More workers will be brought in if the workload increases, Gupta said.

Gupta said earnings of the restaurant will be used in welfare programmes for the jail inmates.