Subhashini Ali
GURUVAYUR is a famous temple town in Kerala. It is known for its Krishna Temple which attracts thousands of pilgrims everyday, for the 36 elephants attached to the temple that are great attractions at all the temple festivals. It is also known for the fact that one of its main entrances is named the AK Gopalan Gate in memory of the legendary Communist leader who, along with others like Comrade Krishna Pillai, led a movement for the entry of dalits and low-caste Hindus into the temple premises in 1932.
Recently, Guruvayur has been in the news for other reasons. A few months ago, the Guruvayur Municipality received the Best Municipality Award from the Kerala government. It is a remarkable achievement that a temple town to which vast multitudes of people throng throughout the day and night is spotlessly clean because of the untiring efforts of all those associated with its governance, from the chairman to the sanitation workers.
On June 7, Guruvayur was in the news again when the Capt. Lakshmi SheLodge was inaugurated by the Minister for Local Self Government, M B Rajesh, the chairman, Krishna Das and others. I had the privilege of being part of the ceremony.
The state of Kerala ranks low among the states of the country as far as insecurity of women is concerned. Despite this, the LDF government has taken many initiatives to ensure the safety of women. One of these initiatives is the setting up of SheLodges in major cities and towns in the state.
In 2018, the LDF government embarked upon its ambitious and very welcome programme of providing safe and reasonably priced accommodation for women who were travelling on work or for job interviews or any other reason.
The first SheLodge was constructed in Thrissur in 2018 itself. It could accommodate 50 women at a time and was conveniently located to be easily accessible from the railway station and the bus stop. It had single rooms and dormitories, an all-women staff and security arrangements.
After this, SheLodges have come up in Kanhangad (Kasargod), Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Ernakulam. Their construction is being funded by the state government, urban local bodies, MPLAD funds and central funds from the NULM. It is the Kudumbashree organisation that administers them and also runs the canteens that provide inexpensive, good meals. She Taxi services are also being organised in some places.
The SheLodges have proved to be very popular. They are almost always fully booked and are running at a profit. There is a very important provision that no woman traveller in need of accommodation can be turned away at night. Even if no room is available, all women coming to the Lodge at night have to be allowed to enter and spend the night in the reception and waiting area.
It was a wonderful experience to go around the SheLodge in Guruvayur. The rooms were spotlessly clean and were two-bedded, three-bedded and seven-bedded. Each bed in the first two categories could be rented for Rs 200 a night, while in the last mentioned the rental is only Rs 100.
The SheLodges fulfill a very big need as far as women travellers in Kerala are concerned. They are even more desperately needed in other states which should try to emulate the LDF government’s efforts to ensure women’s safety and security.
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