NEW DELHI: To provide comprehensive childcare in a safe and secure environment, the Centre on Tuesday rolled out standards and protocols for setting up crèches to help foster the overall development of children.
The idea is to ensure women-led development and help it emerge into a new service sector which could provide them job opportunities.
The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry which has formulated the standards also advised states and UTs to adopt these new protocols. The protocol lists mandatory CCTV footage and its access to parents/guardians so that they can monitor the crèche remotely.
The national minimum standards and protocol for crèches stipulates that these facilities may be provided from the age group of six months onwards and can be set up in office space, residential apartments, society, schools, hospitals and cooperative offices, as per requirements. “It is ideal to have crèche near the homes of children or the place of work of the parents/guardians so that they can be contacted in case of any emergency,” said the document.
The ministry said that these crèches should preferably be on the ground floor; timing and food should be demand-based and mutually decided by the administration and parents/guardians. It also focuses on maintaining hygiene inside and outside the crèches and providing safe drinking water.
Toys are to be provided to children along with audio-visual equipment wherever appropriate and feasible to stimulate age-appropriate learning, the document said.
The needs of specially-abled children should also be kept in mind and provide age-appropriate educational activities to boost the child’s holistic development, it added. It also said that apart from the crèche administrator and supervisor, parents of preferably three beneficiary children should be part of the crèche administrative committee.
What is a crèche?
The protocol defines a crèche as 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, offer supplementary nutritious meals, and maintain a secure and safe environment.