Inmates operate the bread-making machine at the unit. Telegraph picture

Patna, Feb. 22: Over 1,000 inmates of Beur Central Jail, Patna, are getting bread at breakfast ever since the jail bakery started operating from February 4.

At present, the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises, Institute of Hotel Management, Hajipur, and experts from Modern Bakery are jointly imparting the production training to around 18 inmates to run the bakery.

A Beur jail official told The Telegraph: “The unit is producing 300 bread loaves of 400gm each. So we have added 100gm bread to the breakfast of 1,200 inmates cutting down on the amount of jaggery and gram, which was earlier given at breakfast.”

The official said the reduction has been done keeping the calorific value of the breakfast, calculated by the Institute of Hotel Management, Hajipur, in mind.

According to jail norms, an inmate is given 87gm of grams and 29gm jaggery at breakfast, which add up to 545 calories. As 100gm bread contains 245 calories, the 1,200 inmates will be given only 50gm of grams and 30gm jaggery.

The official said: “We have sent a proposal to the headquarters for introducing the same breakfast for all the inmates. The production of bread from the unit will be increased if the proposal is approved.”

The bakery has the capacity of producing 15,000 bread loaves a day. The official added there would be sufficient bread in store for supply to other jails in the Patna district as 7,500 packets will be produced if the bakery starts functioning for 12 hours. The requirement of Beur jail will be met with around 700 packets of bread.

“Round-the-clock functioning is not possible at the bakery, as the inmates cannot work at night. But production of 7,500 packets will be sufficient to meet the requirements as the jail has 2,654 inmates,” the official added.

A source in the home (prisons) department said the production of the bakery unit will be increased in phases and production level will be fixed at such a level that it can meet the requirement of the jails in Patna district.

Apart from Beur, there is a district jail at Phulwari Sharif and sub-jails at Barh, Patna City, Danapur and Masaurhi in Patna district. The source said the department was not averse to the idea of supplying the bread produced at Beur jail to the open market too.