Surat: Two new working women hostels will be constructed in separate zones of the city to address housing challenges faced by women and young professionals coming from different districts to work in Surat. The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) had included provisions for these hostels in the budget for Athwa and Rander zones this year.

Moving forward with the project, modern working women hostels will be built in Althan in Athwa Zone and Adajan in Rander Zone at an estimated cost of ₹54.64 crore. Considering local objections around the Althan site, the SMC has decided to construct the hostel at an alternative location.

For these hostels, the SMC submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Gujarat Government’s Women and Child Development Department. The state government has approved grants totaling ₹66.93 crore, including ₹28.15 crore for Athwa Zone and ₹38.78 crore for Rander Zone.

Suman schools expansion

In another development, to increase access to free education for children from poor and working-class families, two new Suman schools will be established in Udhna Zone-B at a total cost of ₹11.50 crore.

Additionally, a proposal has been submitted to expand the Hayat Suman School in Ashwanikumar-Navagam at an estimated cost of ₹1 crore. As per the plan, one new school will be built in TP-34 (Pali-Sachin-Kansad) in Udhna Zone-B at a cost of ₹6 crore, and another in Kankapur Housing Board at ₹5.59 crore. In Varachha Zone, approximately ₹1 crore will be spent on adding new classrooms at TP-4 (Ashwanikumar-Navagam) to meet growing demand.

Once completed, these projects are expected to benefit around 1,500–2,000 students in Udhna and Ashwanikumar. Currently, over 16,000 students are enrolled in Suman schools across Surat. DeshGujarat