(Image source from: Tihar Jail serving delicacies at restaurant })
Delhi's foodies can now head towards a new and unlikely food destination - Tihar Food Court. This eatery is located on the periphery of Tihar jail in Tilak Nagar. It's part of Tihar jail’s rehabilitation programme for prison inmates.
Tihar Food Court serves delectable delicacies that are cooked, served and operated by prison inmates. The place has earned rave reviews for serving lip smacking dishes.
From sandwiches to thalis, the eatery serves a range of snacks and meal items. It's situated only half a km from the prisoners' dormitories.
The 50-seat restaurant has a spacious interior with wooden tables for its patrons. The walls of the food court are adorned with paintings, which were made by prisoners. The eatery has been praised for the politeness of its employees, who were groomed by a reputed hotel management school located nearby.
The food court is managed by Mohammad Asim, who spent 14-1/2 years in Tihar jail for murder. Asim says that the restaurant has nearly 50 customers daily and the worker get Rs 74 per day for working at the eatery.
The most expensive item on their menu is the deluxe thali , costing Rs 150. While popular Indian snack 'samosas' are the cheapest, costing Rs 10.
Talking about the popularity of the place, Asim says that people who visit the eatery keep coming back for more.
Tihar Food Court is connected to the prison store, which sells goods made by prisoners. The prison store sells cookies, potato chips, pickles, clothes and even furniture all under the Tihar jail brand-name TJ’s.
Only inmates with "unblemished record" with at least 12 years in jail and a high school education are eligible to work in the restaurant.
Prisoners who will be released in two years time are chosen for the job, as they have minimum temptation to escape. The inmates travel to work on foot or by cycle, as the jail authorities trust them and a security escort is not attached.
The idea behind the food court is to help the inmates to reform, rehabilitate and re-integrate them in society after release, said Tihar jail spokesperson Sunil Gupta.
More prisoners will be brought in to work at the eatery in case the workload increases, said Gupta. The earnings from the restaurant are utilised for the welfare of Tihar inmates, Gupta added.
Tihar Food Court has received good response and people are curious about the food being served at the eatery.
Tihar's eatery is part of the 'Happiness programme', which along with the Art of Living programme seeks to help inmates to get over "physical, mental and emotional" stress. It aims to transform them and to rehabilitate them in society.
(AW: Pratima Tigga)
