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.
