Tamil Nadu government frames new guidelines for running women hostels

Chennai: Taking a strong view of the recent incident of rape of two minor girls, Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced new guidelines for running hostels to ensure safety and security for girl students, teenage girls and working women across the state.

The new guidelines makes it mandatory for hostels to install CCTV camera, digital video recorder and appointment of women wardens for every 50 girls in a hostel, round-the-clock security guards and separate and habitable rooms, in case of a co-ed hostel, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said in a statement.

Laying down infrastructure requirements for running hostels for women with a total of 23 guidelines, she said concerned government officials would approve the hostel infrastructure if it qualified the recommendations.

District administrations would prepare a list of retired police officials, ex-servicemen and Home Guards to help hostel managements to hire them as security guards.

The warden can be appointed only after checking his or her history of professions and the person produced a conduct certificate from local police. In addition, the particular person's mental and physical health needed to have be certified by government hospitals.

The new guidelines also brings all these hostels under the supervision of Collectors in all districts, with each one of them maintaining a separate register with details of these hostels. The respective district police would ensure these hostels are visited at least once a month.

The guidelines also require district administration to organise awareness camps, upload details of these hostels with contact number of securitymen to these hostels, to create awareness of 'Child Helpline 1098.'

All homes and hostels for girl students, teenage girls and working women run by government, non-governmental organisations, associations, trusts, religious institutions, schools, colleges, training institutes, factories and companies run by organisations and individuals, would immediately be brought under the purview of these guidelines, the statement said.