A day after a person running a women’s hostel was caught for installing hidden cameras, Collector A. Shanmugasundaram has warned that those running unregistered women’s hostels and children’s homes could end up in jail. The Collector has fixed December 31 as the last date for hostels and privately-run homes to register and get the required licence.
The owners of unregistered hostels or homes, found to be operating without licence after the deadline, could be jailed for up to two years under the Tamil Nadu Hostels and Homes for Women and Children (Regulation) Act, 2014, he said in a press release.
He also issued 15 guidelines for women’s hostels and children homes, that include obtaining building permits , appointment of only a woman as a warden in hostels housing women and posting of security guards round-the-clock for children homes.
In case the number of residents exceed 50, he said the norms included installation of CCTV cameras and digital video recorders, maintenance of books, issuing of identity cards and displaying of contact numbers and addresses of the warden infront of the hostels.
Use apps
There were apps to detect hidden cameras and women staying in hostels could use them to find out and file a complaint, the collector said.
Forms for getting the registration certificate and the licence can be downloaded from https://chennai.nic.in.
One can also get it from the Collectorate at Rajaji Salai, the release added.