CHENNAI: Hostels and homes for women and children should be operated after getting due permission from district Collectors. Otherwise, owners of such illegal hostels and homes are liable to two years imprisonment, A Shanmuga Sundaram, Chennai Collector has said.It may be noted that on Tuesday, police arrested a person for fixing hidden cameras in a hostel he was running at Adambakkam here.
In a release, the Collector said various complaints had been received about illegal activities in unregistered hostels and homes in Chennai. The State government has stipulated various guidelines for running such facilities for women and children. Some important guidelines are the hostel and homes should be operated only in approved buildings.
Only a woman should be appointed as warden of a women’s hostel. Security guards should be appointed at all the gates of the hostels and homes, CCTV cameras and digital video recorder should be fixed. As regards hostels and homes where more than 50 inmates are staying, details of inmates coming in and going out should be registered in a separate register, he said.
All hostels and homes should be established after getting due permission from fire and rescue services, police, corporation, health and revenue departments and they should register with the district collector. A licence should be obtained from the district collector. To get the licence, the deadline has been extended to 31, December 2018.
The public can send complaints relating to unregistered hostels and homes and any other complaints by WhatsApp to 9444841072. Owners of hostels and homes who run the establishment without getting proper permission and licence are liable to undergo two years imprisonment, he said.