Kozhikode: No rules to run women's hostels

KOZHIKODE: The authorities are yet to standardise the rules in  women’s hostels  even after repeated clamour from  working women as well as  students, say  activists. There is also no authority to check  the functioning of the hostels, their hygiene and the  quality of food given,  they allege. Sthree Chethana general secretary K.S. Jayasree said  the corporation and the government were not interested in proceeding with the long-pending hostel project which  would have been a boon for many working women.

“There is no standardised policy or regulation for the hostels in the city. When some of them permit  women working on late shifts, the majority  say  ‘no.’ There are no facilities like picking and dropping when they want to go to the  railway station or bus stand at odd hours.  The quality of food served is poor though they charge more than Rs 4,000 per month,” said  Jayasree.

The majority of the hostels lack hygienic toilets and bathrooms.  “The owners do not install incinerators for sanitary napkins, citing huge expenses. There is no mechanism to cancel the licence of such hostels and paying guest accommodation,” said Deepa Elizabeth John, a student from Kozhikode. The women’s activists also say that the families are hesitant to provide  accommodation to  single women.