The bakery unit opened at Beur Central Jail in Patna on Friday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Feb. 4: The loaf of bread that you have for breakfast could soon be coming from Beur Central Jail, where a new bakery unit was opened today.

The loafs made at the bakery would be delivered to government hospital like Patna Medical College and Hospital and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, and also to sub jails in Danapur and Patna City. Retail outlets, opened in different parts of the city, would also sell products of the bakery.

Beur jail is not the first prison in the country to have its inmates make bakery products. Inmates of Tihar Jail in Delhi bake breads, biscuits and bhajiya. These products are marketed under the popular TJ’s brand. Similarly, inmates of the historic Sabarmati Jail also market their popular bhajiya through mobile stalls.

The bakery at Beur does not have a brand name yet. But it will soon, said home department secretary Amir Subhani, at the inauguration ceremony today.

“The inmates will be trained through a six-week long programme, conducted by representatives of Modern Bread Company and the Institute of Hotel Management, Hajipur. The inmates who receive training will be given certificates. They will also be given salary for their work in the bakery,” said inspector general (prisons) Ramesh Lal. The training will start on February 5.

Lal added that equipment worth Rs 29 lakh had been installed at the unit, which is a joint endeavour of the state government and the Union ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises.

The equipment at the bakery has the capacity to produce 15,000 loafs of bread, each weighing 400gm, per day.

The unit would employ around 78 Inmates, who are either serving sentences or have their cases pending in court.

Subhani said the aim of the bakery would be to make the inmates self-reliant.

“When they are released, they will need to get a job for their proper rehabilitation in society. The training and the experience they get here will enable them to get jobs easily,” he added.

Patna resident Dipu Kumar, who is serving time for murder, said: “I have already received some preliminary training. I will spend a long time in the jail. But when I get out, I will have the training to get a proper job.”