Lok Sabha Question No. 5568 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-04
Subject: Hostels for Working Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Harish Chandra Meena, Shri Kuldeep Indora, Shri Damodar Agrawal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  5568

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2025

## HOSTELS FOR WORKING WOMEN

## 5568. SHRI DAMODAR AGRAWAL: SHRI KULDEEP INDORA: SHRI HARISH CHANDRA MEENA:

## Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

be pleased to state:

- (a)       whether the Government has any scheme to build residential units/hostels for working women in various parts of the country including Rajasthan, district-wise;
- (b)       if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken for the safety of working women;
- (c)    whether the Government has any plan to build working women hostels in the Sriganganagar, Tonk Sawai Madhopur and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan in first phase of this scheme and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)       the number of Government hostels available at present for working women across the country, State-wise; and
- (e)       whether land acquisition and construction plan for hostels have been finalised in said district, if so, the details thereof along with any timeline for completion/operationalisation of said hostels in the said districts?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF  WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a) to (e):  The Government is committed to providing safe, secure and affordable hostel facility for working women and women aspiring to join the work force. Working women hostels are critical components for improving participation of women in the labour force, which is a major step towards realising the idea of 'Women led development'.

Sakhi Niwas Scheme [Working Women Hostel (WWH)] under the umbrella Mission Shakti, is a demand driven Centrally Sponsored Scheme where States and UTs assess their requirement as per  local  needs  and  proposals  are  approved  by  the  Programme  Approval  Board  (PAB)  after discussion  with  States/UTs.  The  scheme  aims  to  promote  availability  of  safe  and  conveniently located  accommodation  for  working  women  and  for  those  women  who  are  pursuing  higher education/training,  with  Day  care  facility  for  children  in  urban,  semi-urban  and  even  rural  areas where employment opportunity for women exists.  In this scheme, fund is provided on rental basis. The component of new greenfield construction has been discontinued.

However, the Department of Expenditure (DoE), Ministry of Finance, under the Scheme for Special  Assistance  to  States  for  Capital  Investment  (SASCI)  has  allocated  Rs.5000.00  crore  for greenfield construction of WWH to 28 States during the financial year 2024-25.  After assessing their needs and requirements, 28 States submitted proposals of construction of WWH to the DoE.   Based on their proposals,  DoE has released 1 st installment to 28 States for construction of WWH during the financial year 2024-25.

The  Empowered  Committee  under  the  framework  of  Nirbhaya  Fund  has  also  appraised greenfield construction of WWH i.e. 7 in Uttarakhand, 3 in Uttar Pradesh, 7 in Nagaland, 1 in Punjab, 3 in Tamil Nadu and 1 for the University of Delhi.

The  State  Government  of  Rajasthan  has  informed  that  they  have  submitted  proposal  of Rs.165.32 crore to the DoE for construction of WWH in 41 Districts under SASCI Scheme during the financial year 2024-25.  These 41 Districts include Sriganganagar, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur and Hanumangarh Districts. The first instalment of Rs.109.11 crore has been received by them during the financial  year  2024-25.   It  has  also  been  informed  by  the  State  Government  that  Land  has  been allotted in these four Districts for construction of 50 bedded WWH.

Presently, 523 Sakhi Niwas are functional across the country and the State-wise details are at Annexure.

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Annexure referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.5568 for answer  on  04.04.2024  regarding  Hostels  for  Working  Women  raised  by  Shri  Damodar Agrawal,  Shri  KuldeepIndora  and  Shri  Harish  Chandra  Meena,  Hon'ble  Members  of Parliament(LS).

The State/UT-wise details of functional Sakhi Niwas (WWH)

| S. No   | State/UTs                          |   Number of Functional Sakhi Niwas (WWH) |
|---------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 1.      | Andhra Pradesh                     |                                       23 |
| 2.      | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                       05 |
| 3.      | A&N Islands                        |                                       00 |
| 4.      | Assam                              |                                       10 |
| 5.      | Bihar                              |                                       00 |
| 6.      | Chandigarh                         |                                       06 |
| 7.      | Chhattisgarh                       |                                       06 |
| 8.      | Daman &Diu and Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                                       00 |
| 9.      | Delhi                              |                                       15 |
| 10.     | Goa                                |                                       00 |
| 11.     | Gujarat                            |                                       14 |
| 12.     | Haryana                            |                                       07 |
| 13.     | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                       06 |
| 14.     | Jammu &Kashmir                     |                                       01 |
| 15.     | Jharkhand                          |                                       02 |
| 16.     | Karnataka                          |                                       62 |
| 17.     | Kerala                             |                                      138 |
| 18.     | Ladakh                             |                                       00 |
| 19.     | Lakshadweep                        |                                       00 |
| 20.     | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                       02 |
| 21.     | Maharashtra                        |                                       74 |
| 22.     | Manipur                            |                                       18 |
| 23.     | Meghalaya                          |                                       04 |
| 24.     | Mizoram                            |                                       03 |
| 25.     | Nagaland                           |                                       11 |
| 26.     | Odisha                             |                                       11 |
| 27.     | Puducherry                         |                                       04 |
| 28.     | Punjab                             |                                       00 |
| 29.     | Rajasthan                          |                                       15 |
| 30.     | Sikkim                             |                                       01 |
| 31.     | Tamil Nadu                         |                                       60 |
| 32.     | Telangana                          |                                       17 |
| 33.     | Tripura                            |                                       00 |
| 34.     | Uttarakhand                        |                                       00 |
| 35.     | Uttar Pradesh                      |                                       08 |
| 36.     | West Bengal                        |                                       00 |
| Total*  | Total*                             |                                      523 |

## x-x-x-x-x