HYDERABAD: The state government has taken up the construction of four working women’s hostels in Hyderabad, each with a capacity to accommodate 500 women, at an estimated cost of Rs 20.16 crore per hostel.
Women and Child Welfare Minister Danasari Anasuya Seethakka has directed officials to pay special attention to the quality and timely completion of these buildings.
The state and Central governments have earmarked over Rs 200 crore for the initiative, and additional hostels are proposed to be established in other districts as well.
Contracts for the construction works have already been awarded and the projects are expected to be completed within six months. The hostels are being built with financial support from both the state and the Centre, according to sources.
The facilities are being developed under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2024-25. The government has proposed the hostels to create a better ecosystem that encourages higher female labour force participation and improves ease of living for working women.
According to sources, Rs 47.4 crore has been released in the first phase for the construction of hostels at Khairatabad-1, Khairatabad-2, Shaikpet, and Asifnagar.
On Tuesday, Seethakka laid the foundation stone for one of the hostels in the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency. On the occasion, she also paid floral tributes to Savitribai Phule, the pioneering social reformer and educationist widely regarded as India’s first female teacher.
Speaking on the occasion, Seethakka said that once the hostels are completed, women job aspirants from the interior parts of Telangana would have access to safe and secure accommodation.
“Women will be able to pursue employment only when there is a safe environment. The state government is striving to create such favourable conditions,” she said, adding that the initiative would help increase women’s participation in the workforce.
