Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has given administrative sanction for Rs 2.78 crore for setting up of a new
Nirbhaya shelter home in the
Pulayanarkota Government Care Home premises under the social justice department.
The new building will be constructed in 18 months. Social justice and health minister K K Shailaja said that it is part of an attempt to ensure the best facilities for the child and women inmates of Nirbhaya dhelter homes in the state who are survivors of abuse and human trafficking.
To ease the mental trauma of the Nirbhaya home inmates, the new building to house shelter home will be set up amidst beautiful natural environment in 6,000 sq.ft space. It will be a three -storey building with compound wall, gate, lift facility, library, recreation room, hall to watch television, yoga centre, health club, playground with basketball and tennis court, modular kitchen, work area and dining hall. The shelter home with a capacity to accommodate 120 inmates is expected to be set up in 18 months. Kerala State Construction Corporation is entrusted with the responsibility to construct the building to house the shelter home.
Currently, around 350 inmates are housed in 12 Nirbhaya shelter homes across the state. In the state capital here, there are three Nirbhaya shelter homes. In two years, it is planned to provide advanced education and health care as part of empowering them to ensure that are back to their homes.
Minister Shailaja said that new shelter homes will be set up in the districts where there are no such homes including Kannur, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha. It is to ensure effective protection and legal services for the inmates that the state government had appointed IPS officer R Nishanthini as the Nirbhaya state coordinator, she said. The decision to appoint cybercrime investigator Dhanya Menon as cybercrime consultant for Nirbhaya project is also part of that effort, she said. In the wake of increasing cyber-crimes against children and women, the state has decided to appoint cybercrime consultant for creating awareness and training to the inmates and the staff, she said.
