Safe, Affordable Lodges For Solo Women Travellers: Kerala CM

Solo travelling, particularly for women, has picked up tremendously in the last few years. And while this is a trend that has empowerment written all over it, what needs to happen is focused plans from the state to ensure that solo women travellers are safe and have easy access to lodging. In an effort to encourage solo women travellers, the Kerala government has stepped up and recently announced a slew of schemes around making public places safe for women.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that his government is working towards building safe, clean and affordable lodging facilities for women travellers across all major cities of Kerala. Self-governing bodies of Kerala will be handling this project. He also promised a total of 12000 toilets to be constructed across the state for men and women. CM Vijayan said that this was one of the most requested necessities in many cities and hence this would be completed within this calendar year.

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Apart from these, he also talked about the multi-facility wayside rest house complexes going to be built for which steps are being taken to identify the land. He has also envisioned to start a youth leadership academy which would aim to bring in a culture of working while studying in Kerala. “Students would be ensured opportunities to work part-time. That culture prevailing in foreign (countries) would be shaped up in Kerala too,’’ he said, Indian Express reported.

In order to rebuild the state after being flood-hit, the CM has pledged to plant 37 crore saplings across the state.

The year 2019 ended on a fabulous note for Kerala as the state was declared on top among all the other states in the country in the Sustainable Development Goals Index 2019, released by the NITI Aayog on Monday. The state scored 70 tying with Union Territory Chandigarh which also scored 70 in the index that assesses states on the basis of several parameters, including social, economic, and environmental.

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He also promised a total of 12000 toilets to be constructed across the state for men and women. CM Vijayan said that this was one of the most requested necessities in many cities and hence this would be completed within this calendar year.

The SDG India Index considers 16 out of 17 goals specified by the United Nations as sustainable development goals and it has reportedly ranked states on the basis of 100 indicators out of 306 outlined by the United Nations. Last year’s report had 62 indicators. “There are 40 indicators that are common across SDG India Index 2018 and SDG India Index 2019-2020,” the report said.

“Kerala is well on track to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals,” tweeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “The state has topped NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2019 with a top score of 70. The State has improved its previous score and has emerged as Front Runner in 10 categories, out of a total of 16 goals.”