Home News DMK Govt Pastes ‘Dravidian Model’ Sticker On Women’s Hostel Initiative Started During...

DMK Govt Pastes ‘Dravidian Model’ Sticker On Women’s Hostel Initiative Started During ADMK Govt And Funded By Modi Govt

By
The Commune
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DMK Peddles 'Dravidian Model' Claim On Girls Hostels - Official Data Says Otherwise

Following Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement that a working women’s hostel will be established in every district across the country, Dravidianists, DMK spokespersons and their media mouthpiecesclaimed that Tamil Nadu had already achieved this under the so-called “Dravidian model” as early as 2010. These claims were amplified through social media posts and television commentary.

However, available records indicate that working women’s hostels in Tamil Nadu significantly predate 2010 and that a substantial portion of the existing infrastructure was created under previous administrations. Government data shows that as early as 1980–81, during AIADMK rule, government-run working women’s hostels were established in several districts of the state. Of the 24 such hostels functioning in Tamil Nadu as of 2024, 20 were started during AIADMK tenures.

Funding details further complicate the narrative being projected. According to official documents, the Central Government provides the majority share of funds for the construction of working women’s hostels in Tamil Nadu. Under the centrally sponsored “Sakhi Niwas” initiative, the Centre contributes 60% of the project cost, with the Tamil Nadu government contributing the remaining 40%. These hostels are implemented nationwide, including in Tamil Nadu, where the state government branded them as “Thozhi hostels”.

In the Union Budget 2024–25, presented in July 2024, Sitharaman announced that the Centre would establish working women’s hostels in collaboration with industries and create crèches to improve women’s workforce participation.

Earlier documentation from August 2021, released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, shows that the Centre sanctioned funds to the Tamil Nadu government for a working women’s hostel with a daycare facility in Tambaram district. The project, executed by the Tamil Nadu Working Women Hostel Corporation Limited, received a non-recurring central grant of ₹7.005 crore, representing 60 per cent of the total approved project cost of ₹11.675 crore. The first instalment released amounted to ₹3.5025 crore, accounting for 50 per cent of the Centre’s share.

The documents also clarify that the Working Women Hostel scheme functions as a sub-scheme under the Centrally Sponsored Umbrella Scheme Mission for Protection & Empowerment for Women, with the Centre–State funding ratio fixed at 60:40.

So whichever way it is looked at, the Dravidianists have been peddling a lie for the past 2 years and repeating it to push the “Dravidian Model” narrative once again.

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