It took a scandal in a hostel on Chennai’s outskirts for the government to take action on regulating the business. The Collector has mandated that all hostels must be registered by the year end, failing which they cannot continue to operate in the city.
Undoubtedly, this move was long-pending and has been welcomed by working women and students alike. But mere registration is not sufficient; ensuring that the registration is given only after a thorough inspection and periodic checks to see if the norms are being followed are key.
C. Aparna, 23, who has moved three hostels in Chennai in the last two years, said, “All these guidelines and registering formalities are good, but are they part of a long-term solution? From the time I moved to Chennai (from Kerala), I have read several reports on this topic but yet there is no solution. The food quality in the first hostel that I stayed in was very poor and when I asked them why they told me to vacate immediately,” she said.
“I hope the government will come out with a proper checklist, stringent guidelines, rules for hostel owners etc., which will help many women who come from various parts of the country to work or study here,” she added.
Her room-mate, who requested anonymity, said that the government should blacklist hostels that have a bad track record and publicise details of such hostels on a common platform. “The government should put details of all hostels and also rate them – this will help newcomers to the city. A helpline where women who live in hostels can complain is also the need of the hour,” she suggested.
Lucrative business
Hostels are a lucrative business in Chennai. The unorganized business has an estimated turnover of over ₹1,000 crore per annum. Though there is no official data yet on the number of hostels, but a ball park estimate shows that the number could be more than 4,000. Till date only about 240 hostels have come forward and submitted their applications for registration.
Working women and students scout for hostels through online platforms and social media networks. According to sources in the industry, Just Dial has over 2,000 hostels (in Chennai) listed in its database, while Sulekha has over 700 in its kitty. Apart from these, Magicbricks and 99acres also have hostels and paying guest accommodation listed on their websites. Facebook has pages like ‘Paying guests in Chennai’, ‘Paying guests neat DLF IT Park in Chennai’ and ‘Ladies hostels in Chennai’. On an average, hostels in Chennai charge anywhere between ₹2,500 and ₹15,000 a month.
A visit to some of these hostels is an eye-opener. Many lack proper ventilation, while some have 6-7 women staying in a cramped space. Some have wardens, who are supposed to be in charge of the welfare of inmates. Many of them are old and immobile. “Our warden cannot even walk and she is quite old. How will she take care of the 35-odd girls living here?” asked Jessica, an inmate of a city hostel.
Sorry state
It is not just the working women’s hostels that are badly off. Those housing men might actually be worse. A visit to two men’s hostels (also called mansions) – one in Triplicane and another in Velachery – was revelatory. There is a foul smell emanating from both places. More than eight men live in a 300 sq. ft room. There are no cupboards or lockers.
For every 30 men there is one toilet. Rajesh Kumar, an inmate of the Triplicane hostel who works for an IT firm on Cathedral Road, said, “Registrations should be made mandatory for men’s hostels, mansions and paying guest accommodation as well. There are several challenges that we face but they go unnoticed.” He suggested that State government officials visit some of these places and come out with rules and guidelines for men’s hostels.
His friend, M. Aslam, who is a sales executive in a retail firm, said that the government should look at this problem across districts and not restrict its focus to Chennai alone. He added, “Hygiene is the biggest challenge in a men’s hostel. Men smoke, drink and in some rooms you can see them spitting inside rooms. Often rooms are cleaned only once a week.”
Awareness lacking
Hostel owners, naturally, have a different take. “Even if we give the best, there will always be a few who will complain,” said one of them.
Of the 40-plus hostels that The Hindu visited over the last few weeks, only two have applied for registration. The rest said that they were confident that the deadline would be extended beyond December 31. There were a few owners who said that the move would die a natural death.
K. S. Manoharan, Secretary, Chennai Hostel Owners Welfare Association, and experienced in running hostels for over a decade, said, “The biggest challenge is that there is no awareness about registering hostels. As an association we have advised our members (over 200 of them) to complete the registration formalities by the end of this month.” According to him, the OMR belt which houses over two lakh IT professionals, has the maximum number of hostels and paying guest accommodation and his estimate is over a 1,000 on this stretch alone. Mr. Manoharan said that Choolaimedu also has several hostels and many of them run without even name boards.
Easy way out
According to a hostel owner who runs more than eight establishments in Chennai, “In the case of many hostels, if there are less than 10 women staying in a flat or a large house, the owners get away by saying they are family friends. They don’t want to go through the tedious process of going to each government department and getting clearances. Getting clearances is also not simple.”
He pointed out that many people who go abroad give out their houses (especially in gated communities) for use as hostels or paying guest accommodation – they also don’t bother with registration. These people post details about their accommodation on social media platforms like Facebook. “They use terms like room-mates needed. In such cases, it’s difficult to establish whether its a hostel or they are friends staying together,” he said, adding that the revenues are quite good when compared to giving a place on rent. For instance, a two-bedroom house in Vadapalani (near Forum Mall) would fetch anywhere between ₹25,000 and ₹30,000 as rent. But if it is let out to 6 people as paying guests, it will fetch ₹7,000-₹9,000 per head, which is more profitable.
The manager of a girl’s hostel in Shollinganallur, who has been in the business for over two decades, said most hostels in Chennai are owned by financiers and small real estate firms who think of the business as a money-making option. They took to it in a big way in the wake of the IT and retail boom post 2005.
“You will not find any big brand names in this industry. These people who start hostels don’t even have enough awareness on how to go about registering or running the business. They don’t even scan the backgrounds of women who join their hostels – they just ask for an ID proof and admit them. Women also don’t do enough background checks. All they want is a space which is close to their work premises. This becomes a loophole in some cases like the recent incident where the owner had hidden cameras inside his premises,” he said.
In recent weeks, a few hostels have shut down, with the owners deciding that the tedious process of registration is not for them, and that additions to infrastructure as demanded by the government will not be feasible.
A real estate broker in Saidapet, who is also part of the hostel business, said that such closures will not really have an impact, as in this industry, supply is far in excess of demand. “Just because a handful of small hostels close does not mean that the girls are going to be stranded on the roads. If you go to the top big hostels, their occupancy rates are only 85-90%,” he said.
Dharunya Ganesh, who stays in a hostel, has a word of advice. “Even before landing in Chennai, I reached out to eight hostels and asked the owners to send me photos and pictures of the rooms, building, kitchen, bathrooms and the street. That helped me shortlist the best hostel. I also asked for owner details and went through the website thoroughly. Post that I asked a friend in Chennai to visit the hostel fora second opinion. Girls coming from other cities should follow this,” she said. Her hostel in R.A.Puram follows rules strictly and also has a handbook on dos and don’ts for inmates.
Zero tolerance
With the clock ticking for hostel owners, Chennai District Collector A. Shanmuga Sundaram is firm on not giving an extension in the December 31 deadline. He has also indicated that those violating the rules will have to face consequences, including imprisonment up to two years. On the other side, the social welfare department is taking steps to ensure that hostels come forward and register.
The department’s director, V. Amuthavalli, said that there are some challenges in getting details on the number of hostels in the city.
“We had an interaction with the police department regarding this, as we cannot do this alone. We have to work together with the police to find out how many hostels are there and then issue show-cause notices to whose who do not abide by the rules,” she said, adding that there is a need to expand the scope of the Hostels Act.
Ms. Amuthavalli said that a special purpose vehicle is being formed to create spaces for accommodating women.
“It’s a long-term vision and we are in talks with the housing department. The special purpose vehicle will construct and maintain the buildings. Six locations have been identified for this purpose,” she added.