Is Maharashtra government not prioritising child welfare?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government in Maharashtra is often seen boasting of its policies. The government claims to be a welfare state but surprisingly some of its ministers are still in a deep slumber and seem to be in no mood to act for the welfare of the general public.

The ministry of Women and Child Welfare, which is tasked with overseeing facilities and betterment of the children particularly, is sitting on the proposal of guidelines for Creche and Day Care units over the last 10 months. The guidelines were framed by the State Commission for Women in May 2017 and proposing several norms to regulate the operations of day care units. The Commission had forwarded its guidelines to the ministry of Pankaja Munde, last year itself. Surprisingly, Munde has not received a copy of the guidelines yet and resultantly has not taken any decision to approve it.

The Free Press Journal was the first to report on the guidelines recommended by the Commission (May 8, 2017). Since then it has been taking following up the matter and was on Sunday informed by Vijaya Rahatkar, the chairman of the Commission, that no decision is taken yet.

Rahatkar said, “We had forwarded the guidelines to the concerned department but there has been no decision on it. I had personally informed Pankaja Munde of the guidelines and she had assured me of looking into the guidelines but it seems the department has not forwarded the recommendations to her.”

Munde was contacted several times to know her side, however, there was no response and she remained unavailable for her comment.

It may be noted there are no such guidelines for the functioning of creche and day care units till date. The units can come under the scanner only after Munde approves the guidelines as proposed by Women’s Commission.

The Commission under the chairmanship of ita president Vijaya Rahatkar had formed these guidelines, three months after the horrific incident of Kharghar day care, wherein an infant was brutally assaulted by a caretaker. The incident came to light after a video of the infant being assaulted went viral on the internet.

The best part in these guidelines is that all the daycare units will have to register themselves with the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare and obtain proper licenses. It may be noted none of the day care units are registered till date.

Interestingly, the Commission has brought in the qualification and training rider for caretakers. It has laid down certain conditions for recruitment of caretakers. The list of recommendations also includes the ‘consent’ form of parents wherein parents will sign the conditions as laid down by the Commission.

The guidelines have also suggested an adequate area of land required for setting up the day care units. The list further covers the hygiene aspects, first aid kit and, also, the quality of toys that should be used for the children. The Commission has also recommended imposing fines on day care units which violate the guidelines.