Mobile Creches For Working Mothers Children

Mobile Creches (MC) For Working Mother's Children is an idea born out of compassion for children, indignation at their plight and the determination to drive change.  MC initiated an intervention in the lives of children at a time when there was no buzz around Child Rights or malnutrition thereby developing a model for childcare, for young children of marginalised communities, in the form of day care centres at a place of work, a construction site, in a settlement, or in an urban slum. The first Mobile Creche was set up in 1969, at a construction site near Rajghat, in Delhi. The idea spread from building sites to urban slums; from childcare services to training; and advocacy.

Major Interventions:

The NGO ensures childcare – health, nutrition, early learning and care – for birth-12 year old children living at the construction sites. It works in partnership with real estate developers and contractors, other NGO service providers and the government. The goal is to persuade construction companies to institutionalize 'creches at all sites' as policy, capacitate other organisations to run childcare facilities at a workplace or in a neighbourhood, and strengthen the state system. The below partnership models are followed at construction sites:

Model I, Demonstration Model, run directly by MC in Delhi/NCR regions, adhering to quality guidelines. The size of these centres ranges from 50 to over 70 children per unit.

Model II, Tripartite Model derives the core framework from Model I, adapted to expand services through trained local NGO partners. MC transfers the business know-how for creche operations and supports partners in adhering to quality standards. Ideally the centres have 35-40 children per unit.

Model III, Employer Run Model also draws from Model I. The employers run and manage these centres directly, with support from MC. Typically these centres have 20-25 children per unit.

MC with support of stake holders like community, government and parents runs creches and provides affordable, quality childcare options in the neighbourhood.

The NGO build alliances with academic institutions, women's organisations and other citizens’ groups, and work with communities, to build pressure from the ground up. MC’s advocacy is to ensure policy change, effective legislations and improved services by way of quality, coverage, budgets and institutions for the young child.