Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday inaugurated 22 hostels for students belonging to Backward Classes (BC), Most Backward Classes (MBC) and De-notified Communities (DNC) in different parts of the State.
Constructed at a cost of about Rs. 12.9 crore, the hostels would accommodate 1,200 students.
Eleven of the hostels were meant for school and college students belonging to the BCs; nine for MBCs and two for DNCs.
She also declared open two hostels for men and women workers at the SIPCOT industrial complex in Sriperumpudur of Kancheepuram district.
The hostels had been built at a cost of around Rs.9.81 crore.
Prison bazaarA host of facilities were also commissioned on the campus of the Central Prison in Puzhal, on the outskirts of the city.
They included waiting halls for visitors and police personnel, bakery and telephone connection. A prison bazaar, which would sell products made by prisoners, had been set up in Puzhal. She named it “Freedom.”
This was part of the government decision to set up such outlets on the campuses of all prisons.
Besides, an open jail in Purasadai Udaippu village of Sivaganga district, established at a cost of Rs. 2.41 crore, was inaugurated.
The inauguration of the facilities and the buildings was done through video conferencing from the Secretariat here.
Ms. Jayalalithaa handed over cheques for Rs. 30,000 each to 22 policemen who won the silver medal in the 62nd B.N. Mullick memorial all-India police football championship held in Hyderabad last month.
