Govt mulling over operationalising 50 working women hostels on rental model: Officials

New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) The government is planning to operationalise 50 new rental-based hostels for working women, in response to demands and their location-based requirements, officials said.

The existing scheme of Working Women Hostels (WWH) has been renamed 'Sakhi Niwas' and it will be expanded geographically as well as in terms of users who are single women, women whose family members do not reside in the area, girls pursuing higher education or undergoing training etc., officials said.

"About 50 hostels will be operationalised to be run on a rental model based on the demands and locational requirements of working women, rather than on building construction," an official said.

He also said children, i.e., girls upto the age of 18 years and boys upto the age of 12 years, shall also be permitted to live with their working mothers in Sakhi Niwas.

As of last year, 972 hostels have been sanctioned across the country out of which 497 are operational.

Working Women Hostels scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which financial assistance is released to states and union territories to open hostels.

While the central government bears 60 per cent of the cost, the state or union territory concerned spends 15 per cent and the implementing agency will invest 25 per cent of the amount. This cost-sharing model is applicable on all states except for those in the Himalayan region and the Northeast.

For Northeastern and Himalayan states, the ratio is 65:10:25.