Workers’ hostel at Kurichi in Coimbatore gets a few occupants

A workers’ hostel constructed by the Tamil Nadu government at Kurichi SIDCO Industrial Estate has got occupants for 26 of its 116 rooms.

The remaining rooms will get occupants after Deepavali as several guest workers have gone home for the festival, said an official of the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO).

The hostel, which has 528 rooms and is spread across 1.49 acres, was built at ₹23.05 crore to accommodate 528 workers and was inaugurated by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in March this year. The rooms are of two types (430 sq. ft and 394 sq.ft) - one to accommodate only the workers and the other is for workers who are here with their family members.

The industry owners at the SIDCO Industrial Estate at Kurichi however feel that the rooms may not get more takers. “In fact the number of workers at the units will reduce after Deepavali as many may not return. Initially, the Coimbatore SIDCO Industrial Estate Manufacturers’ Welfare Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the SIDCO to offer the rooms at ₹1,100 a worker or ₹1,500 if they are with their family members. The industries will pay the rent to SIDCO on behalf of their workers. However, the rent quoted by the SIDCO now is ₹18,000 a room, including ₹4,000 for maintenance every month. There is no drinking water connection, no underground drainage connection, and the electricity charges are not included. Rooms are available at Kurichi for ₹800 to ₹1,000 a worker.

The government constructed a similar facility for workers at the Ambattur Industrial Estate and there too the Association was unable to get occupants for the rooms. Any facility created by the government should not look at revenue from the project but at how it can be made useful for the public. The MSMEs cannot afford such high rents and hence, it is difficult to find takers for the hostel, said an MSME unit owner at the SIDCO estate.