Soon, hostels, dorms for working women, men in industrial areas

Ranchi: Industries department will now set up hostels and dormitories for working women and men, who are employed in the micro, small and medium enterprises which are functional across the state's industrial areas.The department late last month issued a gazette notification in this regard. The move was aimed at creating a safe environment for the women workforce and uplifting the living standards of the growing number of workers in the industrial areas across the state, the department said. "There is a need to construct hostels and dormitories in industrial areas given the rising number of workers. Especially for women, who come from far flung areas to work at the factories," industries minister Sanjay Yadav said.According to the Union MSME ministry, Jharkhand has registered 12.1 lakh MSME units in the state. NABARD had in 2023 put the total workforce in these units at nearly 20 lakh, with nearly 6 lakh of them women. Industrial areas in the state are controlled by the Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority (JIADA). The notification, undersigned by industries secretary Jitendra Kumar Singh, said the JIADA's board of directors had on Sept 12 last year, had approved the proposal of constructing hostels for working women and dormitories for men in its 13th meeting. At the meeting, it was also decided that the hostels and dormitories would cater to the men and women who are working in establishments which function near the industrial areas. "Land for these projects will be issued by JIADA, which will also carry out the construction work," the notification read. Notably, the Centre in its budget for the 2024-25FY had announced special assistance to states for capital investment which provisioned Rs 5,000 crore for construction of working women hostels countrywide.