Introduction

The Working Women Hostel Scheme was launched by the Indian government on 6th of April 2017  by the Prime Minister of our country, Shree Narendra Modi and is supervised by the Women and Child Care Development Ministry for the easy access of reliable, affordable and comfortable accommodation for working women who have to leave their homes and relocate due to professional commitments. The central target audience of this scheme are the below-poverty-line and helpless women of India. It is a central type of scheme. In this scheme the government gives a grant-in aid for construction or expansion and renovation of existing buildings to improve and advance hostel facilities in towns, cities and rural areas. The main objective of the scheme is to empower women across the country.

Objectives of the working women hostel scheme

The objectives of the working women hostel scheme are:-

  • To promote the safe and easily accessible accommodation of working women with a daycare facility of their children wherever possible.
  • To accelerate and facilitate the services in urban, semi-urban and rural areas where employment opportunities for women exist.
  • To assist projects for the establishment of new hostel buildings, an extension of existing hostel buildings and buildings in rented premises.
  • To make the availability of accommodation accessible for every working women without any kind of discrimination done amongst them.
  • To accommodate women who are undergoing training for a job according to the specific conditions of the scheme.
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Criteria for eligibility of the scheme

The criteria for eligibility to avail benefits from the working women hostel scheme are:–

  •  The working women covered under this scheme should be single, divorced, widowed, separated or married but whose     husband or relatives do not reside in the same city or area.
  • A preference would be given to the women from the underprivileged community.
  • There is a reservation of seats for the handicapped beneficiaries.
  • The working women whose training period does not exceed one year will be eligible for the benefits of the scheme.
  • The number of women undergoing training must not exceed 30% of the total capacity of working women.
  • Sometimes it happens that a woman is the sole caretaker of her children so then the working mothers will be allowed to stay with their children on condition that the age of the boy and girl child should not be more than 9 and 15 years respectively.
  • 7. The women who fall below poverty line too are eligible to avail the services of the working women hostel scheme.

Key features of the working women hostel scheme

1. Number of hostels – To meet the accommodation requirements of housing, the central government has given the directive to establish 70,000 hostels for working women. Around 938 hostels have already been constructed as the first step to achieve the target.

2. Day care center – To assist working women the hostel authorities will provide day care services also. In it the children will be looked after when their mothers are working. The service will come with some extra pricing.

Conditions to avail hostel services

The working women can avail hostel services under the following conditions-

1. The applicant will have to provide details about themselves, their current situations and the proof documents of their work that they are doing currently. The gross income of the women applicant should not exceed the limit of Rs.50,000 which is the consolidated(gross)per month standard in metropolitan cities. In other places the limit of consolidated gross per month is Rs. 35,000.

2. When the income of a working women applicant already staying in a hostel exceeds the specified limits then she has to vacate the hostel within a maximum period of 6 months of crossing over the income ceiling according to provisions.

The charges of the inmates of the hostel are decided this way-

For a single bedroom – The hostel rent in this case will not exceed 15% of the gross salary.

For double bedrooms – The hostel rent will not exceed 10% of the gross salary.

For dormitories – The hostel rent will not exceed 7% of the gross salary.

For the children in the Day Care Centre – The hostel rent will not exceed 5% of the emoluments of their mother.

The rent for trainees would be charged from the institution which is sponsoring the training or from the woman undergoing the training. This rent will not include the usage of mess and other services like washing machines. According to the scheme women with children are accommodated in single/double bedrooms instead of a dormitory.

The stay period tenure

In this hostel scheme, the working women are not allowed to stay in a hostel for more than a period of 3 years. Only in some exceptional cases the authority would consider and allow working women to stay beyond the period of 3 years under the condition that the period of extension would not exceed 6 months at one time and that the complete stay with extensions would not exceed the period of 5 years.

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The application submission procedure

The applicants require to follow the below steps to apply for the Working Women Hostel Scheme:-

Step 1 – The woman applicant needs to approach the Department of WCD, of the concerned State to apply under this scheme.

Step 2 – The applicant will need to get the application and fill the form out in the prescribed format.

Step 3 – Now she will need to attach the below-listed documents with the scheme application form. The documents are:-

  • Prospectus of the organization/association/institution with a short description of it’s objectives and activities.
  • Copy of the Annual Reports for the past 3 years.
  • Copy of the Balance Sheet for the past 3 years.
  • Audited accounts of the agency including auditor’s report, receipt and payment statement, income and expenditure statement.
  • A copy of the site and building plan of the proposed hostel as per certain norms of the scheme as certified by a registered architect.
  • A copy of the approval from the local authority and the building permit certificate which states that the construction of the hostel has been permitted.
  • The detailed estimate for the cost of the construction of the hostel building to be certified by the PWD or any other authority and the sources from which the remaining funds will be granted.
  • The documentary copy of the plot on which the building is to be made.
  • The documents of the lease deed of the proposed land for the construction of the hostel building signed between the governing authority and the lessee to be submitted along with the application.
  • A condition must be included in the agreement that the land will be used only for the construction of the Working Women Hostel.

Step 4 – The agencies who are going to apply for seeking financial help for the hostels in rented premises need to submit the following documents-

  • A copy of the rent agreement with the landlord.
  • In case of an approved project the agency will need to submit a fresh rent agreement which has to be certified by the respective authority.
  • A detailed building plan with the financial calculations of the rented premises certified by the state PWD/District collector.

Step 5 – For the processing of the application the state government would request applications from the eligible organizations and the proposals which fulfill the norms and conditions will be placed before a Project Sanctioning Committee(PSC) for decisions.

Step 6 – For the renewal process the amount of rent that is given yearly to the organizations running the hostel will be decided by the state PWD/District Collector. The listed rent deed will be applicable and legal for 2 years after which the agency will have to apply for renewal. The revised rent rate if needed will be made only at the time of application submission for the project renewal.

Conclusion

The working women hostel scheme is a very good initiative to support working women from any class and condition and make them feel worthy and independent. It tries to support all the women considered as inferior to their male counterparts. It has been implemented all over India from cities to towns and villages too. The initiative has been a respite for the underprivileged and uncared women of below-poverty-line category who have no one to take care of and nowhere to go. The scheme is a central government scheme. And it really makes a difference in the face of a progressive nation with the wellbeing of the empowered and aware women who are a prominent and important part of our nation and entire world.