https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Smart Move in a Smart City: A Welfare Initiative for Women and Lactating Mothers

A brainchild of Ms. Aditi Garg, the CEO of Smart City Indore, it’s a `women-only’ centre set up at four different locations in the city. Aptly named ‘SHE-Kunj’, these centres act as waiting or feeding rooms for women at the most crowded spots of Indore.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Yet again, IAS officer Aditi Garg and the Indore Smart City have added another feather in their caps. This time it’s not about preserving Indore’s heritage or earning revenue from reducing carbon emission (as we reported earlier in Indian Masterminds), but for the first time a centre named ‘SHE-Kunj’ has been launched which aims at providing much needed convenience to women. With the help of this facility, women can now avail sanitation facility, separate feeding rooms, diaper & sanitary pad dispensing machines and other amenities at some of the most crowded places in Indore.

The initiative has been taken up at four locations: Palasia Women Police Station, Chappan Dukan (56 Shops), Vijay Nagar and Meghdoot Upvan, with the aim of providing a clean and safe environment for women where they can avail specialised and required amenities.

While speaking to Indian Masterminds, Ms. Aditi Garg discussed about the purpose and benefits of this novel idea.

THE IDEA

She said, “We have identified some areas in the city which are heavily crowded such as market places, bus stops, hospitals etc. and are coming up with ‘SHE-Kunj’ centres, which are a mix of women toilets and feeding centres.”

“If a feeding mother is out with her young one in a crowded place and wants to find a safe and secure spot where she can comfortably sit, relax and have the right environment to feed the baby, the ‘SHE-Kunj’ center will assist them with all their specified needs,” she added.

Launching SHE-Kunj in Indore

Apart from the four centres which are already functional, 21 more such centres are coming up in Indore with the ardent leadership and diligent planning of the Smart City team.

THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE INITIATIVE

While speaking about the need to launch such an initiative, Ms. Garg explained “Before this initiative, women used to have access to only public toilets and no feeding centres or waiting rooms, unlike in foreign countries. We also felt the need to provide such facilities to women because such centres do not even exist here.”

“The need also arises from the fact that these centres are non-existent and secondly, in the age of Covid pandemic and social distancing, such simple tasks become more difficult for women. This is mainly because of no access to a clean environment, safety, security, privacy, and social distancing. But by launching the ‘SHE-Kunj’ centres, all of these hurdles can be incorporated,” she emphasized.

SHE Kunj Centre

Each centre is built in an area covering 400 square feet and offers home-like facilities in the middle of a market or any other crowded place. Apart from the sanitary pad machines, women there also have access to beauty and cosmetic products. The centres are guarded by the deployed caretakers and women guards.

BENEFITS OF THE INITIATIVE

Taking the instance of the ‘SHE-Kunj’ which has been built near a police station, Ms. Garg listed out some benefits which she noted after the facilities were started there. She said “There is a regulation that you cannot have a woman waiting inside a police station, so we started realizing that women are using these centres to wait and relax, instead of waiting inside the police station. With this, we saw a kind of synergy and effect which we did not even expect coming out of this initiative.”

Sanitation facility
Waiting room

This idea has left the local police coming up with demands of opening more such waiting rooms in the same vicinity so that women have ease to sit and relax in a safe environment. This welfare initiative has been prepared on the basis of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in which the contractor would also maintain this centre for the next 15 years.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Odisha Government
Odisha Elevates Two Promising IFS Officers to Senior Time Scale, Strengthening Forest Leadership - Know More About Them
Yogi Adityanath UP
Uttar Pradesh Floods: CM Yogi Adityanath Forms ‘Team-11’ for Swift and Transparent Flood Relief Across 12 Districts
DGR Job Fair
DGR Job Fair 2025 Held in Delhi to Empower Ex-Servicemen with Career Opportunities in Emerging Tech - Details Inside
omc
Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) Begins Dispatch from Dubna Mines, Strengthening Supply Chain and Industrial Growth
NFDC
NFDC Launches Free Residential 3D Animation & VFX Training for North East Youth - Here's All You Need To Know
CM Yogi
CM Yogi Adityanath Reviews Rs. 42,891 Crore Development Proposals for Lucknow Division, Emphasizes Timely, Inclusive Execution
Mahanadi River
Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai Assures Odisha of Consideration on an Amicable Solution to Mahanadi Water Dispute
MP News
Madhya Pradesh CM Dr. Mohan Yadav Pays Tribute to Pt. Ravishankar Shukla on His Birth Anniversary
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IAS Karn Satyarthi
How IAS Karn Satyarthi Transformed Gumla Through Empathy and Innovation
Ananth Rupanagudi IRAS
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi’s Take on Corruption, Reform, and Duty
WhatsApp Image 2025-07-26 at 13.16
What Most Indians Don't Know About Jim Corbett
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
BPSC Bihar police
From Lantern Light to Police Uniform: How Praveen Kumar from a Small Bihar Village Cracked BPSC to Become SDPO
From a lantern-lit village in Bihar to becoming an SDPO, Praveen Kumar's journey is a testament to resilience,...
IAS Priyansha Garg
Why Mindset Matters: IAS Priyansha Garg’s Mental Health Mantra for UPSC
After two failed prelims, Priyansha Garg cracked UPSC with AIR 31 in her fourth attempt, proving how...
Ashish Akshat
From Setback to State Topper: How Ashish Akshat Topped JPSC While Working Full-Time
Ashish Akshat from Dhanbad topped JPSC 2023, proving that resilience, discipline, and family support...
Social Media
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve: From India’s First Sanctuary to a Tiger Conservation Success Story | International Tiger Day Special
IAS Supriya Sahu Hails Mudumalai's Role in Tiger Conservation on Tiger Day. Declared in 1940, Now Among...
Mangroves
Mangroves: Nature’s Shield Against Disasters, Says Officer Parveen Kaswan on Mangroves Day - Watch His Post Here
Mangroves, with their dense, interlaced root systems, form a mesh-like structure that serves as a buffer...
Retired IPS Inderjit Singh Sidhu
Purpose Doesn’t Retire: How 88-Year-Old Retired DIG Becomes Chandigarh’s ‘Quiet Warrior’ of Cleanliness
Inderjit Singh Sidhu’s Dawn Patrol Earns Applause, Mahindra’s Praise for a Man Who Chose Action Over...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Odisha Government
Odisha Elevates Two Promising IFS Officers to Senior Time Scale, Strengthening Forest Leadership - Know More About Them
Yogi Adityanath UP
Uttar Pradesh Floods: CM Yogi Adityanath Forms ‘Team-11’ for Swift and Transparent Flood Relief Across 12 Districts
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IAS Karn Satyarthi
Ananth Rupanagudi IRAS
WhatsApp Image 2025-07-26 at 13.16
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT