New Delhi, Jan. 8 -- Millions of girls fall out of India's education system after school, simply because there is no safe and affordable place for them to live near college. To plug this gap, the Centre is weighing a national programme to build girls' hostels in districts with an outlay of about Rs.10,000 crore in the upcoming Union budget, according to two government officials aware of the matter.

The first official said, requesting anonymity, that the proposal envisages at least one dedicated hostel for girl students in each of India's 806 districts over the next five years.

The hostels will be standalone and not connected to any institution, and they will likely be built at district headquarters, near clusters of colleges and univers...