Ahmedabad: Officials at Gujarat International Finance-Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar are weighing policy-level measures to ensure bachelors who work or study at the country’s first international financial services centre (IFSC) do not face difficulties getting on-campus residential accommodation, according to people familiar with the matter.Top sources said that as a first step, the authority is considering writing to the registrar of cooperative societies, seeking its intervention to ensure that no housing society within GIFT City is permitted to adopt bylaws that deny accommodation to bachelors or single occupants.The decision comes as part of a larger plan of launching a new Business Accommodation Policy by GIFT City officials, sources confirmed. The policy aims to create a regulated framework for professionally managed business accommodation in GIFT City’s residential units for people staying for work, business, training, academic and official purposes.At least 25,000 people work at GIFT City in Gandhinagar, of which a sizeable number are singles or migrants, according to sources. The decision of GIFT City officials to put their weight behind single professionals follows growing issues faced by bachelor employees in finding accommodation, reaching senior GIFT officials, sources confirmed.A source from a Fintech entity revealed that attrition rates were high in their firm because many employees asked for transfers to other locations amid a struggle to find accommodation in Gandhinagar. “The issues have been raised in meetings with GIFT office- bearers,” said the source. In fact, some employees of GIFT City faced problems when a residential society outside GIFT City changed its bylaws disallowing PG accommodation, forcing single professionals to vacate, sources said.“Employees come to GIFT City from other states and even other countries, often leaving families behind,” an official said, requesting anonymity. “Housing should not become a barrier to employment or education here.”In parallel, the authority is weighing formal communication to the society’s registrar. “We are considering requesting that no society in GIFT City should be allowed to keep a bylaw that denies accommodation to bachelors or single occupants,” the official said.
