Parliament Question: Funds to establish Working Women's Hostels (WWHs) in the country

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.632 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026 FUNDS TO ESTABLISH WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTELS (WWHS) IN THE COUNTRY 632. SHRI R. GIRIRAJAN: Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has provided any fund to establish Working Women’s Hostels (WWHs) in the country, if so, the details thereof, State-wise; (b) whether Government has allocated ₹5000 Crore for the construction of New Women Hostels across 28 States and if so, the details thereof, State-wise, year-wise; (c) whether Government has studied about the total requirement of number of working women hostels in the country, State-wise; and (d) whether the Public/Private Companies/organizations and NGOs are also approved and allowed to run the Working Women Hostels with funding from the union Government, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI) (a) to (d): Sakhi Niwas Scheme [Working Women Hostel (WWH)] under the overarching Mission Shakti, is a demand driven centrally sponsored scheme where States/UTs assess their requirement as per local needs and their proposals are approved by the Programme Approval Board (PAB) after discussion with States/UTs. The Scheme aims to promote availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women and for those women who are pursuing higher education and training, with Day care facility for children in urban, semi-urban and even rural areas where employment opportunity for women exists. In this scheme, fund is provided for rental accommodation. Component of construction has been discontinued, as per the Sakhi Niwas scheme guidelines. The State Governments/UT Administrations are eligible to receive financial assistance for setting up of a Sakhi Niwas. The State-wise details of funds released during the 15th Finance Commission are at Annexure–I. Ministry of Finance (MoF), Department of Expenditure (DoE) vide O.M. No.44(1)/PF- S/2024-25 (CAPEX) dated 09.08.2024 has allocated Rs.5,000/- crores to 28 States under Part (X) (Construction of Working Women Hostels) of Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) Scheme for construction of working women hostels. Under SASCI Scheme, Department of Expenditure (DoE) has approved construction of 254 working women hostels with total capacity of 52991 beds in 28 States at a total approved cost of Rs.4,826.31crore. Out of this 1st instalment of Rs.3,148.28 crore has been released to the States during 2024-25. Details may be seen at Annexure-II. *****Annexure-I ANNEXURE WITH REGARD TO REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 632 FOR ANSWER ON 04.02.2026 REGARDING “FUNDS TO ESTABLISH WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTELS (WWHS) IN THE COUNTRY” ASKED BY SHRI R. GIRIRAJAN, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (RS). DETAILS OF FUNDS RELEASED DURING THE 15TH FINANCE COMMISSION (Rupees in Lakhs) States/UTs Total Andhra Pradesh 30.52 Bihar 90.00 Arunachal Pradesh 147.02 Assam 156.23 Chhattisgarh 48.87 Delhi 14.54 Gujarat 116.16 Himachal Pradesh 33.46 Jammu & Kashmir 42.04 Kerala 883.09 Madhya Pradesh 191.26 Maharashtra 89.50 Meghalaya 24.98 Mizoram 90.55 Manipur 1089.97 Nagaland 299.11 Odisha 56.06 Puducherry 0.26 Sikkim 13.43 Tamil Nadu 1075.00 Tripura 0.25 Uttar Pradesh 40.70 Total 4533.00Annexure-II ANNEXURE WITH REGARD TO REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 632 FOR ANSWER ON 04.02.2026 REGARDING “FUNDS TO ESTABLISH WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTELS (WWHS) IN THE COUNTRY” ASKED BY SHRI R. GIRIRAJAN, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (RS). DETAILS OF STATE WISE FUNDS ALLOCATION TO THE STATES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF WORKING WOMEN HOSTEL UNDER SPECIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR CAPITAL INVESTMENT (SASCI) SCHEME. Approved Amount release as Allocation S.No. Name of State Amount 1st instalment by Ministry of (In crores) (In crores) Finance (in crores) Andhra 1 172 172.00 113.52 Pradesh Arunachal 2 188 187.98 90.00 Pradesh 3 Assam 226 226.00 149.16 4 Bihar 223 223.00 147.18 5 Chhattisgarh 202 202.00 133.32 6 Goa 100 100.00 66.00 7 Gujarat 202 190.48 125.70 8 Haryana 155 65.30 43.10 Himachal 9 132 132.00 87.12 Pradesh 10 Jharkhand 163 163.00 107.58 11 Karnataka 193 193.00 127.38 12 Kerala 120 120.00 79.20 Madhya 13 284 284.00 187.44 Pradesh 14 Maharashtra 215 215.00 141.90 15 Manipur 149 149.00 98.34 16 Meghalaya 132 132.00 87.12 17 Mizoram 127 127.00 83.82 18 Nagaland 145 145.00 95.70 19 Odisha 189 189.00 124.74 20 Punjab 159 136.56 90.13 21 Rajasthan 202 165.32 109.11 22 Sikkim 106 106.00 69.96 23 Tamil Nadu 223 223.00 147.18 24 Telangana 202 202.00 133.32 25 Tripura 114 114.00 75.24 26 Uttar Pradesh 382 381.56 251.83 27 Uttarakhand 136 136.00 86.76 28 West Bengal 159 146.11 96.43Total 5000 4826.31 3148.28 *****