Hyderabad: While city residents have been busy digging into dhaleem this Ramzan, inmates at Chanchalguda Central Jail have been missing out on the dish.
In a bid to address the issue, jail authorities now say dhaleem can be prepared and provided in jail, with one catch: There must be enough demand from inmates to buy it. “Only if there is a good demand for it, we can make arrangements to get it made in the jail,” a prison official said.
The Chanchalguda prison has a canteen where inmates can buy packed food items, including soft drinks. The prison has a policy where cooked food from outside is not allowed into the jail. The possibility of introducing dhaleem at the prison came after few Muslim inmates requested that the dish be made available, to which authorities responded positively .
There are as many as 400 Muslim inmates in the jail who are observing roza. Out of them, 50 are convicts. All prisoners who are on roza have been separately accommodated in 20 barracks.
Official sources said some prisoners lead the others in prayer. There is a mosque on the premises of the jail where Friday prayers are held. During Ramzan, Muslim inmates are provided food early in the morning at 3 am. The food is specially cooked for them. After the day-long fast, food is once again served around 6.30 pm when they break their fast.
A team of prison officials have been specifically put on the job of getting the food cooked in time. The food is the same as what is otherwise served to other prisoners, sources said. For breakfast, rice with dal is served and for dinner rice with vegetables is served.
Courtesy: TOI