The ‘Ente Koodu’ project, implemented on a pilot basis in Kozhikode by the Department of Social Justice, aimed at providing night shelter for destitute women and children will be replicated in all other districts, M.K. Muneer, Minister for Social Justice, has said.
Inaugurating the first such facility under the scheme at Puthiyara in the city on Monday, Dr. Muneer said it was implemented by the government with the help of non-governmental agencies as well.
Volunteers of the palliative care units in the city had agreed to identify and bring deserving women and children to the shelter, said the Minister.
‘Imaginative project’
Presiding over the function, District Collector N. Prasanth said the project was the beautiful implementation of a simple and imaginative project. “It is heartening that the most deserving in society get the benefit of this project,” he said. It was conceived over two years ago after a brutal attack on a child sleeping on the pavement at Tirur in Malappuram district.
Building renovated
The old village office building on the Kasaba police station premises at Puthiyara was renovated and transformed into a shelter for the project and any woman alone in the city and in need of a shelter can access it.
Children up to nine years of age will also be able to make use of the shelter.
The facility is equipped with security guards, housekeeping staff, and other basic amenities.
The department has sought the help of the public in informing destitute women about the facility.
Volunteers have been appointed at railway stations, bus stands and other places where wandering people usually halt for the night.
Autorickshaw drivers and porters at the railway station and bus stands too can act as volunteers, the authorities said.
