Working Women’s Hostel: An Investigative Analysis of Women’s Shelters in India

Introduction

In India, women migrate from one place to another primarily for marriage and marriage-induced causes; historically, it has been considered the predominant reason for women’s migration toward cities (Ghosh, 2009; NSSO, 2001). What particularly has been observed in recent years is increased women migration for work opportunities (Deshingkar & Akter, 2009). Census data of 2011 revealed that the women migration for work in cities grew by 101% in comparison to their counterparts, which is only 48.7% (Census of India, 2011). The reason behind this city-oriented migration is attributed to the post-liberalization policies of economic development of India and in emerging avenues of employment, that is, the IT sector (Banerjee & Raju, 2009). After the neoliberal policies of economic development, India’s socio-economic structure changed, and women have better working opportunities, but what remains the main problem is safe, affordable, and conveniently located accommodation. Immigrant women seek transitory or permanent shelter through community-based organizations (Pothukuchi, 1995).

Women face many challenges during migration, and safe, secure, and affordable accommodation is one of the major hurdles faced by them. Within patrilocal and patrilineal social systems, women primarily obtain shelter through familial and/or close kin relationships (Pothukuchi, 2001). Women are unable to get adequate housing owing to a combination of factors such as migration, violence, and divorced or separated women. They live homeless or in inadequate housing facilities (United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, 2012). The cultural functions of protection and control played by the family are extended to include women’s access to housing. Women are required to request protection from more distant family members if the nearer ones are unable to do so. There are not many non-family alternatives where women can find refuge, which gives this practice its strength.

To exploit the market demand for women’s shelter in cities, innumerable working women’s hostels (WWHs) have burgeoned across India, particularly for middle-class women, required by the distance between their families and new career prospects (Pothukuchi, 2003). Although in big cities the regulatory or facilitative public policies are not uncommon for providing women shelter, they lag behind when it comes to comparison with the private sector (Foo & Lim, 1989). A valuable strategy starts with acknowledging that social protection interventions designed with consideration of gender dynamics can foster transformative processes, ultimately furthering goals related to women’s empowerment (Antonopoulos, 2013). In the backdrop of this issue, the Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD; now the Ministry), Government of India, introduced a program in 1972–1973 called “The WWH scheme” to provide grant-in-aid for building new or expanding existing buildings to provide hostel facilities to: (a) working women, (b) women being trained for employment, and (c) girl students enrolled in professional courses (MWCD, 2021).

Since India’s economic liberalization in the 1990s, the government’s direct role in welfare programs has gradually reduced, and the private and voluntary sectors have become more active. This has created what Schumacher (1973) called a three-legged economy, where the public, private, and voluntary sectors together support development through providing various goods and services. In this situation, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become crucial in filling the gaps left by the state. Their involvement in running WWHs shows this wider trend, where welfare work is now shared between the government and civil society (Deshpande, 2003; Kabeer, 2005). As Batliwala (2007) pointed out, under liberalization, women’s welfare is often seen in terms of efficiency and partnership rather than as a right. Therefore, while NGOs play a positive role by helping and supporting women, this also shows how the government’s responsibility for women’s welfare is slowly reducing. This growing connection between the public, private, and voluntary sectors presents both new opportunities and challenges in India’s welfare system. WWHs across India are managed by various entities of the social sector, in collaboration with the private and public sectors.

This article uses ideas from anthropology to understand WWHs as more than just places to live. In anthropology, space is often viewed as a social and cultural setting where people build relationships, share experiences, and negotiate power (Lefebvre, 1991; Low & Lawrence-Zúñiga, 2003). From this perspective, the hostel becomes a micro-world where women experience both freedom and restriction. It is a space where they learn to live independently, ensure their safety, and form friendships beyond family ties. At the same time, it influences their sense of identity and worldview. Such alternative spaces—distinct from traditional residential options—offer women the opportunity to explore their true selves and reshape their social roles. Feminist anthropologists have shown that women’s everyday lives are shaped by the spaces they occupy and the choices they make within those spaces (Abu-Lughod, 1990; Ortner, 1996). In this sense, hostels can be seen as safe yet dynamic spaces that allow working women to balance personal independence and social belonging. The experiences shared by the residents in this study help us understand how women find empowerment, build networks, and create meaning in their everyday urban or semi-urban lives.

WWH and its Beneficiaries

The number of women migrating from their hometowns to other places in search of employment in big cities, as well as in urban and rural industrial clusters, is continuously rising with the progressive change in the socio-economic fabric of the country. One of the main difficulties faced by such women is the lack of safe and conveniently located accommodation. The Government of India, being concerned about the difficulties faced by such working women, introduced a scheme in 1972–1973 of grant-in-aid for construction of new/expansion of existing buildings for providing hostel facilities to working women in cities, smaller towns, and also in rural areas where employment opportunities for women exist.

The objective of the scheme is to promote the availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women, with a day care facility for their children, wherever possible, in urban, semi-urban, or even rural areas where employment opportunities for women exist. The scheme is assisting projects for the construction of new hostel buildings, expansion of existing hostel buildings, and hostel buildings in rented premises. The cost-sharing ratio among the central government, states/union territories (UTs) (other than North East [NE] and Himalayan states), and implementing agencies will be 60:15:25 for the construction of buildings for WWHs. For NE and Himalayan states, the ratio will be 65:10:25.

Since the initiation of WWH in 1972–1973, 968 hostels have been approved under the scheme all over the country for the benefit of about 73,887 working women. The maximum number of hostels sanctioned, that is, 160 hostels for 15,508 working women, are located in Kerala, whereas the minimum number of sanctioned hostels, with only one hostel with a capacity of 50 working women, is in Tripura. This scheme has been implemented in all 28 states and 4 UTs, including Goa, Delhi, Puducherry, and Chandigarh (MWCD, 2021; given in Appendix Tables A1 and A2).

The following categories of working women and their children are being covered under this scheme:

Employed women, encompassing those who are unmarried, widowed, divorced, or separated, as well as those who are married but live apart from their spouse or immediate family in the same locality. Priority may be accorded to women belonging to underprivileged segments of society. Additionally, provisions should be in place to allocate seats for beneficiaries with physical challenges.

Although among 20 sanctioned hostels in the state of Haryana, only 10 WWHs are found to be operational. A list of 10 working hostels is given in Table A1. Nonetheless, the Red Cross Society, a leading humanitarian organization in India, runs 5 out of these 10 WWHs in most of the districts like Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, and Jind. WWHs under the scheme are operational only in 7 districts of Haryana, even though there are 22 districts in the state of Haryana, as per the census 2011 (Charkhi Dadri is the 22nd district of the state of Haryana). From the various reports, it was observed that no funds have been allocated to the state of Haryana since 2011. In proportion to the population of Haryana, a dismal amount of funds has been allocated to the states of Haryana (Table A2).

Haryana, which is selected for this study, is the patriarchal heartland—the state of Haryana. This region reports the lowest sex ratio, together with low female literacy and work participation rate. Haryana had a total population of 25.35 million, comprising 13.71 million males and 11.64 million females, with a sex ratio of 879 females per 1,000 males, compared to the national average of 940 (Census of India, 2011). However, it has increased by 18 points over the past decade. In the state of Haryana, 10 WWHs have been working as per the audit report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD). In Haryana, out of total five WWHs are being run by Red Cross Society in most of the districts, that is, Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, and Jind. Furthermore, the WWH scheme has reached to only 7 districts of Haryana, even though there are 22 districts in the state of Haryana, as per the census 2011 (Charkhi Dadri is the 22nd district of the state of Haryana). Therefore, this study attempts to analyze the nature and quality of shelter provided by WWHs in Haryana, India. It also examines the role of non-traditional sources of shelter for women and thereby contributes to the gender perspective of third world shelter policy debate. In this article, we hypothesize that Women Beneficiaries are satisfied with the WWH scheme and hostel facilities.

Research Methodology

Likert’s Scale

Five-point Likert’s scale is used to measure attributes, especially satisfaction and empowerment (Joshi et al., 2015; Likert, 1932). Furthermore, it is used to measure the satisfaction derived by hostellers from different facilities of WWHs, measuring the satisfaction level of respondents of WWH. Scores of five-point Likert scale are—1 for very dissatisfied, 2 for dissatisfied, 3 for neutral, 4 for satisfied, and 5 for very satisfied (Joshi et al., 2015).

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Figure 1.

Research Variables.

Results

Socio-economic Background of Respondents

Table 1 shows socio-economic profile of participants who are women hostellers of women Women’s Hostel of three districts. Data of about Age, Caste Category, Marital status, family income and education of research participants has been tabulated. Most of the participants are post graduate women between age 25–35 from General and OBC category, unmarried with family income between 3 lakhs to 5 lakhs.

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Table 1.

Socio-economic Profile of Participants.

Name of Schemes		Details	Number of Beneficiaries
Working women hostel		WWH Faridabad	20
		WWH Gurugram	20
		WWH Rohtak	30
Total			70
		Number of Beneficiaries	Percentage (%)
Age	18–25	24	34
	25–35	39	56
	35–45	7	10
	45 above	0	0
	Total	70	100
Category	General	34	48
	OBC	24	34
	ST/SC	13	19
	Others	–	0
	Total	70	100
Marital status	Married	29	41
	Unmarried	38	55
	Widow	0	0
	Separated	3	4
	Total	70	100
Family income (Rs.)	Less than 100,000	19	27
	100,000–300,000	11	16
	300,000–5,00,000	32	45
	Above 500,000	8	12
	Total	70	100
Education	Below 12th	18	26
	Graduate	12	17
	Postgraduate	32	45
	Above postgraduate	8	12
	Total	70	100

Source: Based on Field Survey (June 2019–March 2020).

Facilities Provided by WWH

Satisfaction level of women hostellers of WWHs is measured by nine variables mentioned in Table 3. Likert’s five-point scale is used to measure the satisfaction level of all beneficiaries on each factor. The ranges of possible scores for 70 respondents and 9 facilities are 3,050 (5×9×70) and 630 (1×9×70). The items are arranged in ascending order based on their scores, meaning that a higher score corresponds to a higher level of satisfaction.

Scores of Level of Satisfaction of Beneficiaries

Based on the total score of all beneficiaries, it can be said that most of the beneficiaries (41%) are satisfied with the facilities of the WWH scheme. Individual scores range from 9 to 45, with a score of 9 indicating a very dissatisfied experience with all facilities, while a score of 45 signifies a very satisfied experience with all facilities. Approximately 40% of the beneficiaries (34% dissatisfied and 6% very dissatisfied) express dissatisfaction with the majority of the facilities provided by the hostels. This percentage is significant enough to warrant a recommendation for improvements in hostel services (Table 2).

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Table 2.

Intervals of Scores of Level of Satisfaction of Beneficiaries.

Intervals of Individual Score	Intervals of Total Score	Level of Satisfaction	No. of Persons	Percentage(%)
9–18	630–1,235	VD	4	6
18–27	1,235–1,840	D	24	34
27–36	1,840–2,445	S	29	41
36–45	2,445–3,050	VS	13	19
Total score	2,073	Total	70	100

Source: Estimations Based on Field Survey (June 2019–March 2020).

The top-ranking aspect is location. Beneficiaries are highly content with the location and perceive it to be safe and secure, in contrast to other amenities. Food has received the lowest rating. During personal conversations, respondents conveyed that they receive subpar-quality meals. In fact, even in Faridabad and Gurugram, they prepare their own food since it is not provided. Additionally, they find the hostel charges, which cover only accommodation, to be quite steep (Table 3). According to them, the rent, exclusive of food, is expensive. It has been noticed that the building of the hostels was in a dilapidated state (Figures A1 and A3). Most of the hostels are located in the middle of the city, which makes it easy for the hostellers to commute to their respective workplaces and other places. There are no internet and computer facilities available in these hostels (Chauhan, 2016). Food is not available in all the WWHs investigated in the present study, which means that women inmates have to arrange their own food, which requires a lot of resources in terms of effort, time, and money. Working women find it difficult to take out time to cook or arrange meals, which, to some extent, defeats the purpose of such hostels.

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Table 3.

Scores of Factors of Implementation Efficiency of Working Women’s Hostel (WWH).

S. No.	Facilities	Score	Percent	Rank
1.	Safety and security (SS)	271	13	II
2.	Location (LN)	291	14	I
3.	Food (FD)	166	8	IX
4.	Infrastructure (IN)	208	10	VII
5.	Staff (SF)	187	9	VIII
6.	Rule and regulations (RR)	229	11	VI
7.	Admission process/application process (AP)	233	11.5	V
8.	Accessibility of hostel (AH)	245	11.8	III
9.	Rent (RT)	243	11.7	IV
		2,073	100

Source: Based on Field Survey (June 2019–March 2020).

Reliability and Adequacy

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Table 4.

Reliability and Adequacy Statistics of Implementation Efficiency of Working Women’s Hostel (WWH).

Cronbach’s Alpha	Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardized Items	No. of Items
.842	.828	9
Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy		0.645
Bartlett’s test of sphericity	Approx. chi-square	366.77
	Df	36
	Sig.	0.00

One-way ANOVA

ANOVA in Table 5 shows a significant difference between the two mean squares (4.539 and 22.514), resulting in a significant difference (F(69,8) = 31.463, sig = 0.0, p < .01). Hence, the significant value is less than the threshold value 0.05 and indicates that there were differences in responses of beneficiaries regarding satisfaction level regarding facilities by the WWH scheme.

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Table 5.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of Implementation Efficiency.

	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean Square	F	Sign
Between people	313.189	69	4.539
Within people	180.114	8	22.514	31.463	0.000
Between items
Residual	394.997	552	0.716
Total	575.111	560	1.027
Total	888.300	629	1.412

Source: Estimations based upon Field Survey data.

Note: Grand mean: 3.00.

Correlation Matrix

Table 6 indicates the correlation coefficient between the satisfaction levels of women beneficiaries with the various facilities of hostels. The value of the coefficients shows that the relationship is significant in nature.

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Table 6.

Correlation Matrix.

	SS	LN	FD	IN	SF	RR	AP	AH	RT
SS	1
LN	0.169772	1
FD	0.144724	0.364973	1
IN	0.22299	−0.01614	0.128242	1
SF	0.438797	−0.04042	0.071998	0.731496	1
RR	0.253298	−0.07069	0.098584	0.456658	0.760435	1
AP	0.203139	−0.10809	0.089239	0.565658	0.619791	0.759879	1
AH	0.472741	0.271799	0.492993	0.63114	0.58629	0.565665	0.598642	1
RT	0.12145	0.221864	0.381325	0.418065	0.328287	0.383207	0.639996	0.590395	1

Note: AH: Accessibility of hostel; AP: Admission process/application process; FD: Food; IN: Infrastructure; LN: Location; RR: Rule and regulations; RT: Rent; SS: Safety and security.

The satisfaction survey reveals interesting correlations among various aspects of the hostel experience. It appears that individuals who express contentment with the quality of food also tend to be pleased with the hostel’s location. Moreover, those who report feeling secure and safe in the hostel environment seem to have had a smoother experience in securing accommodation. Additionally, respondents who are satisfied with the infrastructure provided also express satisfaction with the staff. These findings highlight the interconnectedness of different elements in shaping the overall satisfaction levels of beneficiaries.

Factor Analysis

1. Scree plot

From Figure 2, it is evident that the scree plot starts to plateau after the second eigenvalue. This suggests that the first eigenvalue explains 46.24% of the variance, while the second eigenvalue accounts for 180.8%. The influence of the subsequent eigenvalues on the overall variance is minimal. Although the analysis was initially set to extract only one factor, the results indicate that extracting three factors is more appropriate.

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Figure 2.

Scree Plot of Implementation of Working Women’s Hostel (WWH).

2. Component matrix and extractions of factors

In this study, it is noteworthy that all the communalities values (Table 7) exceed 0.50. This indicates that the variables adequately account for the factor solution. The communalities offer insight into the relative importance of the factors. As outlined in Table 8, the total variance analysis leads to the extraction of three components, each with an eigenvalue surpassing 1. Together, these components elucidate a substantial 75.6% of the variance across all considered variables (Table 7).

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Table 7.

Components Matrix of Factors of Implementation Efficiency of Working Women’s Hostel (WWH).

	Components			CommunalitiesExtraction
	1	2	3
SS	0.465	0.158	0.772	0.837
LN	0.127	0.790	0.131	0.658
FD	0.351	0.726	−0.164	0.677
IN	0.764	−0.176	0.002	0.615
SF	0.832	−0.304	0.254	0.849
RR	0.792	−0.314	−0.027	0.727
AP	0.828	−0.272	−0.282	0.839
AH	0.868	0.284	0.061	0.837
RT	0.682	0.273	−0.482	0.772

Source: Estimations based upon Field Survey.

Notes: Extraction method: principal component analysis was used for calculations. AH: Accessibility of hostel; AP: Admission process/application process; FD: Food; IN: Infrastructure; LN: Location; RR: Rule and regulations; RT: Rent; SS: Safety and security.

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Table 8.

Extraction Sum of Squared Loadings.

	Total	Percent of Variance	Cumulative Percentage
1	4.163	46.254	46.254
2	1.628	18.087	64.341
3	1.021	11.349	75.690

Source: Estimations based upon Field Survey.

Factor 1 emerges as the foremost and most influential factor, explaining 46.25% of the overall variance. Among the nine facilities considered for the implementation of the WWH scheme, only seven—SS, IN, SF, RR, AP, AH, and RT—demonstrate significant loadings for gauging the scheme’s implementation efficiency. The factor analysis suggests that these variables hold more weight, while others may be less crucial for measuring the scheme’s implementation efficiency. Conversely, Factor 2 (comprising location and food) and Factor 3 (encompassing safety and security) contribute substantially less variance, accounting for 18.08% and 11.34%, respectively, toward the implementation of the scheme (Table 8).

Source of Information

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Figure 3.

Source of Information About Working Women’s Hostel (WWH).

Table 9 shows the responses to sources of information about WWH. The majority of beneficiaries (48%) cited “friends/relative/neighborhood” as their primary source of information, closely followed by “social organization” which also received 48% of responses. This highlights the significant role that social organizations play in disseminating awareness about schemes, particularly in the case of WWH. Out of the four available options, “information from present hostellers” has garnered the lowest number of responses (Chauhan, 2016). The source through which women receive information about the scheme shapes their awareness and their ability to fully take advantage of the scheme (Dhumatkar & Bhat, 2024; Lakshmikantha & Javali, 2023).

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Table 9.

Source of Information About Working Women’s Hostel (WWH).

Source of Information About WWH	Number of Beneficiaries	Percent	Rank
Friends/relative/neighborhood	34	48	I
Social organization	25	36	II
Present hostellers	4	6	IV
Social media	7	10	III
	70	100

Source: Based on Field Survey (June 2019–March 2020).

Discussion

The assessment of WWHs in Haryana reveals that hostels’ amenities are meeting the needs of the beneficiaries, whereas the availability of funds is still a difficult task for interested entities. The WWH staff reported that they continuously struggle with funding hostel maintenance and ongoing infrastructure improvements. However, all three investigated hostels (Faridabad, Gurugram, and Rohtak) were underutilized, meaning that many of the rooms and beds were unoccupied, which is also reflective of unawareness of schemes and their provisions. It is recommended that the authority should have a special provision of funds at the central level to spread the information among working women, especially in cities where there are vacant spaces in hostels (MWCD, n.d.are vacant spaces in hostels (MWCD, n.d.; Sudesh, 2020).

A similar study conducted by Haryali Centre for Rural Development (2017) in Haryana, funded by MWCD, found that many WWHs lacked food and safety provisions, yet residents viewed them as safe and empowering spaces (MWCD, 2017). One of the factors for the NGOs not able to avail of the funds is the escalating costs of land. The possibility of approaching the Land and Development Authorities for allocating land for WWHs in their states was also proposed (MWCD, 2006), whereas it was revised later on, and MWCD notified that land will be provided by the state governments for such provisions.

In subsequent policy reviews, these concerns were highlighted. The Mid-Term Appraisal of the 11th Five-Year Plan recommended that the scheme incorporate flexibility and timely release of funds, steps to improve security, sanitation, and hygiene, and extend itself to towns (MWCD, 2011). In the 12th plan, based on the evaluation and suggestions received from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Empowerment of Women, the scheme has been revised. Under the revised scheme, apart from the provision of extending financial assistance for the construction of hostel building on public land, new components of grants-in-aid for maintenance, furnishing of hostel, and cost of rent of the hostels running in rented buildings have also been envisaged. Financial assistance can be availed of by the state government agencies, including Women Development Corporations, Women Finance Corporation, Urban Municipal Bodies, Panchayati Raj Institution, Self-Help Groups, and others (MWCD, 2011).

Beyond the policy framework, field investigation revealed several infrastructural shortcomings, mainly in sanitation and hygiene. WWH in Faridabad lacked proper facilities for sewage, and beneficiaries were informed that the required cleanliness standards were poorly maintained by the staff. Residents noted and reported frequent sewer blockages that cause foul odor, compromising the overall environment.

Despite the abovementioned shortcomings and challenges, the hostels house some remarkable stories of empowerment and resilience. For instance, in Faridabad, 15 girls who were visually impaired were undergoing training at the National Association for the Blind (NAB) (Figure A2). Their presence underscored both the inclusive potential of such hostels and the urgent need for disability-friendly infrastructure. Similarly, in Gurugram, one of the residents stood out for her complete silence and reluctance to engage in conversation. Her demeanor reflected a quiet story of pain and displacement. After multiple visits and gentle inquiries, other residents shared that she is from another state. Reportedly, a man had brought her to Gurugram under the pretext of marriage, changed her religion, and later abandoned her, and she reached out through the efforts of some NGOs. In this context, the hostel functions as a crucial refugee offering a safe space for women who have been excluded or marginalized by societal norms, offering them a sense of belonging and dignity.

Moreover, residing in these hostels provides women with a distinct form of social empowerment, which was visible in the form of female friendships and sisterhood that flourish in these hostels. It offers them opportunities to meet others from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, to listen to their life experiences, and to relate to them. Through these interactions, they are able to form non-kinship relationships based on mutual understanding, empathy, and shared challenges (Singh, 2022; Suresh Babu, 2020).

Conclusion

WWHs in Haryana fulfill a critical role in providing safe accommodation alternatives to traditional accommodation to employed and aspiring working women, though they continue to face persistent challenges in funding, maintenance, and awareness generation. Infrastructural gaps, particularly in sanitation and accessibility, reflect the uneven implementation of government guidelines. The underutilization of hostels in cities, such as Faridabad, Gurugram, and Rohtak, emphasizes the need for targeted outreach and better coordination between central and state authorities. Regular audits and inspections of the hostels by the fund-providing authorities can improve the outcomes and help in the revision of the scheme on a regular basis.

Initiating the change toward a more equal society, the WWH scheme represents an undoubtedly commendable step by the government. Providing safe and affordable accommodation is a prerequisite for enhancing women’s labor force participation and economic empowerment, as shelter and security outside the home are fundamental enablers of mobility and independence. However, merely constructing hostels without ensuring women’s access, visibility, and freedom of exposure cannot transform the existing gendered structures. Policies must move beyond formulation to effective implementation. Since the government influences both the narrative and the mechanism of change, it is essential that policy intentions are effectively carried out into action and that implementation guidelines are followed both ideologically and practically.

D****eclaration

The authors declare that this manuscript is their original work, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.