Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, while delivering the keynote address at the India Today Tamil Nadu Roundtable, highlighted his government’s welfare initiatives and claimed that several states were studying and adopting schemes implemented under the “Dravidian model.”
Referring specifically to women’s welfare infrastructure, Stalin said that multiple states had sent officials to study Tamil Nadu’s initiatives and added that even the Union Government had drawn inspiration from the State’s “Thozhi Hostel” model while announcing a nationwide scheme for working women.
Speaking at the event, he said, “Looking at the Dravidian model govt schemes, several states are keen to adopt those schemes and send officers to do case study. Even now, taking our Thozhi hostel as a model, the union government announced a scheme in the budget.”
However, the Chief Minister’s remarks and claims misrepresent both the historical record and the funding structure behind such hostels in Tamil Nadu.
கடந்த 2022 ஆம் ஆண்டு நிதியாண்டு தொடக்க நாளான ஏப்ரல் மாதம் 1 அன்று, மத்திய அரசு கொண்டு வந்த பணிபுரியும் மகளிருக்கான சக்தி நிவாஸ் திட்டத்தின் கீழ் வழங்கப்பட்ட நிதியில், 2023 ஆம் ஜூலை 13 அன்று தொடங்கப்பட்டதே தோழி விடுதி. இதற்காக, தமிழகத்துக்கு மத்திய அரசு ₹223 கோடி நிதி ஒதுக்கீடு… pic.twitter.com/oTj3ZgmmfQ
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 11, 2026
On 1 February 2026, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Union Budget that working women’s hostels would be established in every district across India. Following the announcement, Dravidianist voices, DMK spokespersons, and aligned media platforms amplified the narrative that Tamil Nadu had already implemented such a model as early as 2010 under the “Dravidian model.”
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.
Sticker alert!!!
Please see the screenshot. Out of 21 such hostels functioning in the State until 2024, 20 were started during AIADMK rule. https://t.co/Q6aapVTQ6y pic.twitter.com/n7gCHwZFcZ— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) February 2, 2026
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 for working women on 1 April 2022, 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 DMK government branded them as “Thozhi hostels”/ Thozhi Viduthi initiative was launched on 13 July 2023.
Financial data shows that the Union Government allocated ₹223 crore to Tamil Nadu under the scheme and released ₹147.18 crore toward its implementation.
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.
Good Joke. தோழி Hostel in itself is a Modi Govt. introduced 60:40 scheme where’s 60% funding is borne by Central Govt…
கூச்சமே இல்லையா @Kalaignarnews ?? https://t.co/CJ8E4os4cP pic.twitter.com/wEXJfYUxwa
— Dr.SG Suryah (@SuryahSG) July 23, 2024
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.
And they continue to peddle the same lie even at several big platforms like those of India Today.
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