CHENNAI: Prisoners in the State are all set to get more nutritious and wholesome food on their plates. The improved menu, which will be launched on Saturday to mark the birth centenary of late CM Karunanidhi, will feature more frequent servings of chicken curry for non-vegans and newer additions of potato curry with a sweet and fruit serving for vegans. It will also do away with the age-old tradition of serving rice kanji for breakfast.

The modified menu, aimed at providing a nutritious diet for prisoners, was brought about after a review by a team of officials that included a nutritionist from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The change, coming after 13 years, is the third such since the 1980s.

According to official sources, the modifications were introduced after a comparison of the diet in TN prisons with that of other southern states.

The department would spend Rs 207 and Rs 146/day for ‘A’ and ‘B’ class prisoners respectively; i.e. Rs 72 and Rs 50 more to present allocation.