Come February 2018, it will be two years since the first and only Gender Park in the State was opened by the then President, Pranab Mukherjee, at Vellimadukunnu in Kozhikode. But the much hyped facility, which was meant to be a premier convergence point of gender-related activities, is now gathering dust.
A pet project of MLAs M.K. Muneer and A. Pradeep Kumar, the park is located in an ancient building that is said to have hosted Mahatma Gandhi during one of his visits to Kozhikode. So, a part of it has been converted into a Gandhi Museum. There are three smart classrooms and a South Asian Gender Research Centre in a modern building behind it.
With electrification works yet to be completed, all these facilities are closed now with no activity going on. A convention centre that can house 500 people is under construction. The construction of an amphitheatre is going on next to it.
So far, a Gender Fest in Kozhikode and an international conference on Gender Equality in Thiruvananthapuram have been organised under the banner of the Gender Park, but none on its premises. The ‘She Taxi’ service initiated under the Gender Park has turned out to be a burden for drivers.
Memorandum submitted
NISA, a Progressive Muslim Women’s Forum based in Kozhikode, has submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister and the Minister for Social Justice, pointing out the poor state of the facility. “The LDF government had sanctioned ₹6 crore for the park in the 2012-13 State budget. A lot more was spent to organise the Gender Fest. It is a dead investment of our tax money if it is of no use to the public,” said V.P. Zuhra, president of NISA.
NISA had earlier approached the Administrative Reforms Commissioner highlighting the issue, but to no avail.
