THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Come Wednesday, P S Ameena, 31, will no longer have to make her 15-month-old son Aryan sleep on the floor of the office while she works. A senior grade computer assistant at the Public Service Commission (PSC) headquarters at Pattom, Ameena is eagerly waiting for Social Justice Minister to launch a creche at the office.
The creche, which marks the fulfillment of a demand pending for two decades, is also being launched at a few other government offices in the state on Wednesday under the aegis of the women and child development (WCD) department and the Kerala State Children’s Welfare Committee.
It would also be a reprieve for Ameena’s husband Lal Krishna, a former employee of a private firm, who used to babysit their son at the PSC office. “I have been bringing Aryan here ever since he turned six months old last year. Every day, we bring a small bed, change of clothes, diapers, drinking water, milk and other items to the office,” Ameena, a native of Ottasekharamangalam at Kattakkada in Thiruvananthapuram, told The New Indian Express.
“News of the creche’s opening is a dream come true. Now, my husband will not have to stay back at the office,” she said. Over 60% employees at the PSC office are women and a majority of them are young mothers who would benefit from the facility. PSC employees can enrol their babies, aged between six months and six years, at the creche.
The WCD has appointed a teacher, an ayah and a paediatrician at the creche. While the teacher and ayah will be present on all working days, the paediatrician will be available twice a week. Employees had passed demand for a creche at the PSC headquarters as a resolution over 20 years ago. However, it was the sustained efforts of former commission member R Parvathi Devi, who stepped down from the post last Monday, that made it a reality.
“I have seen umpteen young PSC aspirants coming from as far as Kasaragod and Kannur with their babies that are just a few days or a few months old. Ameena’s case was also an eye-opener for me. The state government had sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for the creche. Were it not for the pandemic, the creche at PSC office would have been opened two years ago,” Parvathi Devi.
Workplace Child Care Centres
The state-level inauguration of the ‘Workplace Child Care Centres’ (creches) will be held at PSC headquarters at Pattom on Wednesday during the World Breastfeeding Week being observed from August 1 to 7. A week ago, the minister had announced that 25 creches will be set up in 11 districts in 2022, for which Rs 50 lakh has been sanctioned.