Rules governing crèches in India | Explained
The Story So Far: Five caregivers at the ‘Little Buds Day Care’ located within the Capgemini campus at Brookefield in Bengaluru were booked after shocking
The Story So Far: Five caregivers at the ‘Little Buds Day Care’ located within the Capgemini campus at Brookefield in Bengaluru were booked after shocking videos surfaced showing them severely abusing toddlers. The staff allegedly placed crying children inside front-loading washing machines, locked them in bathrooms, and sprayed toilet jet water into their mouths. The incident has given rise to safety measure which such child care centres are supposed to take. What are the rules governing creches The Women and Child Development Ministry, in consultation with the Labour Ministry, had in 2024 brought out guidelines prescribing the national minimum standards and protocol for setting up and running creches in India, emphasising the institutionalisation of care services to support and promote female labour force participation. Also Read | FIR against crèche staff over claims of physical abuse and cruelty towards children The “suggestive” standards and protocol were formulated for setting up crèches by any individual/ service agencies/ corporations/ companies/ universities/ hospitals/ care service providers/ government organisations/ non-governmental organisations etc, addressing the minimum essential requirements. The document advised State governments and UT Administrations to adopt these standards and protocols for setting up and management of Creches. How is a creche defined in the guidelines According to the guidelines a Crèche is a care centre that provides a safe and nurturing environment for children while their parents or guardians are at work. These facilities prioritise the children’s health, provide supplementary nutritious meals, and maintain a secure and safe environment. It provides age-appropriate educational activities to boost holistic development of the child. What are the objectives of a creche The primary objectives are to provide care facilities for children of parents/guardians who are engaged in any work, to offer a secure and safe environment to the children, to ensure “women-led development”, to emerge as a new service sector which provides job opportunity to women, to encourage women to pursue their career and seek further employment opportunities, to promote female labour force participation in the economy and to envisage new educational sectors in the form of training institutions with globally recognised certification courses.
What are key points to be considered prior to opening of a Crèche Key features include that the crèche may be provided from the age group of 6 months onwards, it may be set up in any office space, in a residential apartment/society, school, hospitals, cooperative office or any other place as per requirements, it is ideal to have crèche near the homes of children or near the place of work of the parents/guardians so that parents/guardians can be contacted in case of emergencies, the provision of care services at home may also be provided on regular/day/hour basis. What the specifics about location in the guidelines It is preferable for crèches to be set up on the ground floor for ease of access and convenience. However, if it’s on other floor all necessary safety measures must be adhered to, the crèche timings may be demand based and mutually decided by crèche administration and parents/guardian, Number of rooms may be as per the requirement depending on the number of children. However, rooms should have sufficient space with facilities for resting and study for the children with ventilation and light arrangements. The windows in the crèche should be positioned at an appropriate height and should be properly fenced to prioritise safety of the children. What are the other specifications The creche must have a child friendly toilet with running water facilities, a urinal. Toilets/wash basins must have soaps/hand wash liquid. The needs of specially-abled children should also be kept in mind. Hygiene inside and outside of crèches should be maintained properly. The centre must have safe drinking water facility preferably with water purifier. Food provided to the children can be mutually decided by crèche administrator and the parents/guardian.
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