Centre to launch rankings for working women’s hostels

The move follows a flurry of cases of violence against women registered across the country, including the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata which has led to widespread calls for safe working conditions for women.

Updated - September 08, 2024 09:09 pm IST - New Delhi

A view of Tamil Nadu Working Women’s Hostel, Thozhi, at Tambaram on Sunday.

A view of Tamil Nadu Working Women’s Hostel, Thozhi, at Tambaram on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Velankanni Raj B

The Centre is all set to launch a ranking system for working women’s hostels across the country based on certain parameters, mostly relating to their security. The move assumes significance amid cases of violence against women, including the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata which has led to widespread calls for safe working conditions for women.

The rankings, to be made available on a website, would be a one-stop portal of all working women hostels in the country, a senior official with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) told The Hindu. The move was aimed at ensuring better female work force participation, especially in urban areas, he added.

The portal would list and rank all existing hostels run by private players, institutions and Central and State governments in each city across the country.

The WCD Ministry has held meetings with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to develop certain parameters based on which the ranking would be done. The QCI has already sent a proposal, which has been discussed with the State governments as well.

Once finalised, the parameters would be sent to State governments, who are then expected to circulate the parameters among the hostels in their territorial jurisdiction.

The guidelines would be based on security, cleanliness and other desired facilities in such establishments.

The entire exercise would be voluntary. The initial plan is to co-opt 200 such hostels each year, with the target being 1,000 at the end of five years, the official said.

More hostels to come up

The portal would also eventually make similar rankings of all creches in each city of the country.

Apart from co-opting the existing hostels, the government is also working on establishing women’s hostels, called ‘Nirbhaya’ hostels.

Around 25 such hostels have already been established in Delhi University, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The Central and State governments would have a fund-sharing ratio of 60:40 in this venture.

Apart from providing residential facilities, these hostels would also offer transit stay for women who want to appear for interviews or exams.

The Centre has an existing scheme to provide hostel facilities for working women, called ‘Sakhi Nivas’ launched under Mission Shakti.

To implement this scheme, financial assistance for working women hostels is directly released to State governments. There are 494 functional working women hostels in the country, with day care facility for the children, according to data shared by the government in Parliament.

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