A meeting of the Finance Committee of the Kochi Corporation, which discussed the lease waiver for Kudumbashree’s Janakeeya Hotel in Ponnurunni division, “overlooked” the demand made by the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) to treat the hotel at par with the Corporation’s Hotel Samridhi@Kochi.
Four UDF members from the nine-member finance committee chaired by Deputy Mayor KA Ansiya, a Left Democratic Front councillor, made the demand. The company’s revenue wing has now issued a notice to Hotel Kudumbashree to clear the rent dues of ₹ 1.38 lakh, including penal interest. Failure to do so could result in hotel closure as early as Saturday (October 25), Kudumbashree members have been warned. The amount was calculated at ₹8 per sq ft for 1,069 sq ft. premises, for the period from October 2022 to May 2023.
“We have said that there cannot be two sets of rules for Samridhi@Kochi and other Janakeeya hotels in the city. How can Samridhi@Kochi be exempted from rent, water and electricity charges borne by the corporation when the same is not true of Janakeeya Hotel in Kudumbashree, which is one of the first such hotels in the city? Our opinion will be raised next week?” council meeting,” said MG Aristoteles, secretary of the UDF parliamentary party and member of the finance committee.
Ponnurunni division councilor CD Bindu claimed that Hotel Kudumbashree was not Hotel Janakeeya, despite the fact that on July 2, the Kudumbashree District Mission, Ernakulam, confirmed that the hotel was indeed Hotel Janakeeya. However, Social Welfare Standing Committee Chairman CD Valsalakumari struck a different note on Friday (October 24) and confirmed that it was indeed Janakeeya Hotel. “Only the corporation has no documents confirming this status as it applied for it late. We are favorably inclined towards Hotel Kudumbashree and will present its case to the council after taking it through the finance committee,” she said.
Mayor M. Anilkumar also said that the company was in no rush to close down the hotel and that the matter would be considered favorably if brought before the council.
Originally run by 10 Kudumbashree members, the hotel now has 12 members drawn from five neighborhood groups. It has been designated as Hotel Janakeeya under the state government’s Hunger-Free Kerala project launched in 2020–21. The rent, electricity and water charges under this scheme are borne by the relevant local authority.
Published – 24 Oct 2025 19:52 IST
