Ente Koodu, a project of the Social Justice Department that envisages a night shelter for destitute women and children, is getting its final touches in the city.
Piloted in Kozhikode, the night shelter will come up at the Thampanoor bus-station for women and children who sleep on footpaths, shopfronts, bus-stations, or railway station at night.
Destitute women and children below 12 years will be accommodated at the shelter and provided food. “Women who have been abandoned, lack resources, or are travelling from somewhere and are stuck as they do not have funds to go back will benefit from the shelter,” Social Justice Director Jafar Malik said.
Space for setting up the night shelter has been identified on the eighth floor of the Thampanoor bus-station, a BOT project of the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation. The shelter will have an area of nearly 1,200 sq ft, and will accommodate 40 persons, District Social Justice Officer Sabeena Beegam S. said. Security measures will be in place at the shelter.
By Costford
The project is expected to be launched soon. The Centre for Science and Technology for Rural Development (Costford) has taken up the construction. The shelter, which will have two air-conditioners, has been furnished. Kerala Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd. is supplying the bunk beds.
The shelter will have a television for recreation and will be managed by two members hired from the Kudumbashree – a manager and a part-time cleaner.
Food will be provided at the shelter.
A Prisons Department canteen functions on the bus-station premises and plans are on to place orders for the food with the canteen as per requirement.
Though ‘Ente Koodu’ was launched in Kozhikode in 2015, the project here was delayed.
Unlike the Kozhikode shelter which is slightly away from the city, the number of beneficiaries is expected to be higher at the shelter here owing to its location in the heart of the city and proximity to the railway station.
