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.
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.
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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.
Play materials and toys (essential ECCE study material and play materials, sports materials, blocks etc.) should be provided to the children. Audio-visual equipment may be provided where appropriate and feasible to stimulate age-appropriate learning and cognitive development.
What are the safety measures specified
The crèche should have child friendly spaces that are designed and tailored specifically to cater to the needs, safety of the children, important and Emergency contact numbers (helplines like 112, 1098, fire-services, Child Protection Officer, Nearest Police Station etc.) should be displayed on essential information boards for easy access and reference, regular inspection for food safety and hygiene are crucial to ensure the quality of the food.
It is mandatory that CCTV cameras are installed for ensuring security and supervision at the crèche. Parents/Guardians may preferably be provided with access to CCTV cameras, wherever possible, enabling them to monitor the crèche remotely from their workplace.
The local police stations, the Women and Child Development/Social Welfare Department, and the Labour Department should invariably have the information about the location and details of the crèche for safety purposes and information to be maintained by these offices.
What are the guidelines for hiring of staff
There should be at least 1 crèche supervisor and one crèche helper for handling 20-25 children. The Crèche supervisor should be minimum 12th Pass and Crèche Helper should be 10th Pass.
The staff should preferably have 2 years’ experience of working in the childcare sector, either in a professional setting or as volunteer. Persons holding a diploma in Childcare or Nursing may be preferred. Only women staff to be recruited as caregivers for the children.
Before hiring a Police Verification Certificate, Character certificate and Medical certificate should be sought.
The guidelines also mandate a Crèche Administrative Committee. The indicative composition of Crèche Administrative Committee includes Crèche Administrator (to be nominated by institution/organisation operating the crèche), Crèche supervisor and Parents/ Guardians (preferably 3) of beneficiary children.
Crèches and Labour Laws
The Code on Social Security and the Code on Occupational Safety , Health and Working Conditions mandates that in every establishment where 50 or more workers are employed, there must be a crèche facility either separate or common within a prescribed distance”. The Codes want employers to allow four visits a day by the woman to the crèche, which includes the rest intervals. According to the Union Labour Ministry, the provision was to support working women with children below the age of 6 years so that they can balance work and family.
The Code allows establishments also to avail common crèche facility of the Central Government, State Government, municipality or private entity or NGOs who may pool their resources for setting up of common crèches. The trade unions and organisations of working women have been complaining that many establishments fail to provide such facilities.
(With inputs from A. M. Jigeesh)
Published – July 02, 2026 03:40 pm IST
