VIJAYAWADA: The Women Development and Child Welfare (WDCW) Department has proposed to set up two more working women hostels in Krishna district long ago. However, the proposal has not materialised yet due to lack of land and fund crunch. To avoid further delay, WDCW officials are planning to set up the working women hostels under the public private partnership mode by roping in some NGOs, who can run them in their spaces on behalf of the government.
At present, there is only one working women hostel run by the WDCW Department in Krishna district, which is located in Vijayawada. In fact, the hostel is accommodating more than double the permitted strength due to huge demand. The sanctioned strength of the hostel was increased from 60 to 100 inmates. Currently, it is accommodating a total of 210 women.
The government working women hostel is the most sought after for those who hail from poor background. Girl students also stay in the hostel to pursue education away from home as it is quite affordable. But finding accommodation in the hostel has become difficult due to limited strength. The hostel fee is `1,584 per month, which includes `960 as mess charges and `624 as hostel charges.
In the absence of adequate number of government women hostels in the city, private hostels are thriving. There are over 300 private hostels in Vijayawada, which are being run after obtaining trade licence from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation or the WDCW Department. But majority of private hostels do not have adequate safety measures, which was revealed in official inspection.
Hence, the WDCW Department has decided to set up two more women hostels in Krishna district with an inmate strength of 100 each. One of the proposed women hostels will be set up in Vijayawada and other will come up either in Machilipatnam or Gudivada.
As part of the PPP initiative, the WDCW Department will pay a fixed amount per month to the selected NGO for running the working women hostel on behalf of the government.
Speaking to TNIE, K Krishna Kumari, Project Officer of WDCW Department, said, “As the proposal to set up two more working women hostels in the district is getting delayed, we have proposed to set up the hostels under the PPP mode. As of now, no NGO has evinced interest in running the hostels. We are still pursuing the matter.”
