Separate houses for bachelors approved by Municipal Council

Plans for housing complexes for single migrant workers in residential neighbourhoods were discussed at the Municipal Council meeting and were approved by the council members.

Bausher, Amerat and Mabella were chosen for two reasons. “The industrial zones are planned far from the residential neighbourhoods, and the workers’ complexes must also be far from the residential neighbourhoods,” they pointed out.

“Secondly, industrial zones employ a large part of the foreign labour force; the housing of foreign workers near their workplaces is beneficial to workers and their companies.”

However, this is not applicable to people who rent their own apartment.

T Bhaskaran, convener of the Indian Social Club’s Malayalam wing, remarked it was good that the municipality was enforcing the law in order to keep families safe.

“Sometimes, you have many bachelors living together because they are far away from home, and it is convenient for them to live together here. However, their be- haviour may clash with the values of the families who live close to them,” he explained. “The behaviour of bachelors is often disagreeable to families, especially those who have young children.

“Sometimes, a husband may go to work, the child may go to school, and the wife is alone at home, but she is afraid to go out because there are bachelors next door who might make her uncomfortable with their actions,” added Bhaskaran. “It is good that the government is doing this so that single people can get their own space.”