Apna Ghar: Kerala’s Hostels for Migrant Workers

Ashraf Gents Hostel

Key facts

Kerala’s first Apna Ghar hostel, at Kanjikode in Palakkad district, was reported ready on 13 November 2017, with 64 rooms for 640 workers at a cost of ₹8.5 crore (The News Minute).
The hostel was built by Bhavanam Foundation, a state-owned non-profit company, with construction guided by COSTFORD and supervised by KITCO (The News Minute).
Rent was reported at ₹750 to ₹1,000 per worker per month, with workers cooking for themselves (The News Minute, 2017).
Onmanorama reported in July 2018 that the Kanjikode Apna Ghar would open on 12 August 2018.
In November 2017 the government said similar hostels were planned for Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, with land sanctioned in Thiruvananthapuram (The News Minute).

Corridor with wooden room doors at Ashraf Gents Hostel, Kalamassery. See all hostel photos

Why the state built hostels

By the mid-2010s, Kerala had an estimated 25 lakh workers from other states (a 2013 Gulati Institute figure), and many lived in crowded rented rooms, labour camps or sheds on building sites. The News Minute reported in 2017 that the scheme gained urgency after a fake WhatsApp audio clip, claiming migrant workers were being threatened in Kerala, caused panic among them. The wider background is in our history of migrant workers in Kerala.

The answer was Apna Ghar, a scheme of the Labour and Skills Department carried out by Bhavanam Foundation Kerala, a public-sector non-profit company owned by the state government. The idea was to offer dormitory-style rooms at low rent near industrial areas, with the state owning the buildings.

Timeline

Date	What happened	Source
13 November 2017	First Apna Ghar at Kanjikode reported ready: 64 rooms, 640 beds, ₹8.5 crore	The News Minute
November 2017	Plans announced for similar hostels in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode	The News Minute
27 July 2018	Report says the hostel will open on 12 August 2018, with residents beginning to arrive	Onmanorama
12 August 2018	Scheduled opening by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan	Onmanorama (advance report)

We could not find a report confirming that the 12 August 2018 opening took place on that exact day, so we describe it as scheduled.

The Kanjikode building

The News Minute described the first hostel, near the New Industrial Area at Kanjikode in Palakkad, as a four-storey building in three blocks with 64 rooms on about 44,000 sq ft. Each room was meant for up to 10 workers on bunk beds, for 640 in all, with 32 kitchens, 96 bathrooms and eight dining halls, drying areas for clothes and resting areas on each floor. Security guards and a separate cleaning agency were planned. Construction was guided by COSTFORD, the Thrissur-based low-cost building group associated with architect Laurie Baker’s methods, and supervised by KITCO. The total cost was reported as ₹8.5 crore.

Rent was reported at ₹750 to ₹1,000 per month per worker, covering all expenses, with workers cooking for themselves because there was no canteen at first. A CSR directory entry for Bhavanam Foundation lists the building as a 620-bed hostel. The difference between 620 and 640 beds is probably one of counting, but we have not been able to confirm which is current.

What about Ernakulam and Kalamassery?

In 2017 the government said hostels would follow in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. Ernakulam, with industrial belts at Kalamassery, Eloor, Edayar and Perumbavoor, would have been an obvious site. However, we did not find any reliable report confirming that an Apna Ghar hostel was built or opened in Ernakulam district, at Kalamassery or anywhere else, by October 2026. Bhavanam Foundation’s other housing projects in Ernakulam and Idukki are listed as “Janani” family housing, not Apna Ghar hostels.

If you see claims of an “Apna Ghar Kalamassery”, ask for the government order or opening report. We have deliberately not stated that one exists.

Lessons from the model

Apna Ghar showed that a state could build decent dormitory housing at rents comparable to a crowded private room. It also showed the limits: one building of a few hundred beds against a workforce estimated in the lakhs. Most migrant workers in Kerala still live in private rentals, employer camps or shared houses. For practical advice, see our guide for North Indian workers, hostel vs shared flat and rent, advance and agreements in Kerala.

Why this matters near the NAD signal

For a working man arriving in Kalamassery today, there is no state-run Apna Ghar to apply to that we could verify, so the choice is a private hostel, PG or shared room. Ashraf Gents Hostel on NAD Road is one such option for men, with twin-sharing rooms, an indicative rent of about ₹2,000–3,000 per head a month confirmed on the call, and a Hindi page. More dated stories are in the Kalamassery history archive.

Frequently asked questions

What is Apna Ghar in Kerala?

A state scheme to build low-rent hostels for migrant workers, carried out by the government-owned Bhavanam Foundation.

Where is the first Apna Ghar?

At Kanjikode in Palakkad district. It was reported ready in November 2017 with 640 beds and scheduled to open on 12 August 2018.

How much was the rent?

The News Minute reported ₹750 to ₹1,000 per worker per month in 2017, with workers cooking for themselves.

Is there an Apna Ghar in Kalamassery?

We could not find any reliable report of one. Hostels were planned for Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, but we could not confirm that they opened.

Who designed and built it?

Bhavanam Foundation led the project, COSTFORD guided construction and KITCO supervised it.

Sources

Facts about Ashraf Gents Hostel come from the hostel’s own profile and photos; rates are indicative and confirmed on the call. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. How we write these guides: editorial notes. Map embeds © Google.

Cite this guide: Ashraf Gents Hostel. “Apna Ghar: Kerala’s Hostels for Migrant Workers.” Published 8 October 2026. https://ashrafgentspghostel.adserr.com/apna-ghar-migrant-hostels-kerala/ Plain-text (Markdown) version · quoting with a link back is welcome.