In its first budget, the Rekha Gupta-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has set aside ₹50 crore to convert 500 anganwadi preschools into anganwadi-cum-creche centres under the ‘Palna National Creche Scheme’. The programme aims to provide quality childcare for children aged six months to six years, enabling working mothers to stay in the workforce. The initiative is being carried out by the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD).
Expansion of centres
Delhi currently houses 10,899 anganwadi centres which offer services such as health check-ups for pregnant mothers and supplementary nutrition, immunisation, and preschool education for the children.
The centres, typically 600-square-foot rooms, will be expanded to provide creche facilities as well. Most anganwadis currently have a single room for preschool classes, but they lack proper spaces for children to rest.
According to the government guidelines, both anganwadis and anganwadis-cum-creches should be of 600 square feet size. “Many anganwadis in Delhi are smaller than the stipulated size because it is difficult to find big spaces in slum areas,” said Priyambada Sharma, the Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (DSAWHU) convener, adding that they have provisions in the budget to move to larger establishments for anganwadis-cum-creches.
Navlender Kumar Singh, the Special Director of WCD said, “Currently, as many as 200 such centres have been converted and we are working on converting the remaining 300 centres. We have asked district officials to look for spaces to expand the remaining centres.”
According to the WCD, the upgraded centres will have a multipurpose area that can be used as a play space and a sleeping area, resting spaces with beds and toys and extended operating hours until 5 p.m., which is four hours more than the regular anganwadi pre-schools till 1 p.m.
As per government data from 2023, 4.2 lakh children aged six months to three years, and 1.6 lakh children from 3-6 years were registered anganwadi beneficiaries in Delhi.
Need for creches
At an anganwadi in Patparganj, a worker teaches preschool classes from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. for around 30 children, mostly aged 3-4. Some younger siblings stay at the centre because their parents, mostly daily wage workers and domestic helpers, have nowhere else to leave them.
A creche in Patparganj, which was run by an NGO, is currently dysfunctional due to funding shortage. | Photo Credit: Ashna Butani
Their [anganwadi workers] work generally extends beyond stipulated hours as they have to collect details of lactating mothers in the area, check the height and weight of children and if they are immunised. Besides, they also conduct preschool classes.
The worker, on the condition of anonymity, said that most of the mothers, migrants from other States, work as daily wagers and domestic helps. “They finish work around 2 p.m. and sometimes ask us if we can extend our hours. Mostly, we do but at times, we have other tasks in the neighbourhood.”
New set of rules
Each upgraded creche will have one anganwadi worker and one helper working between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and a creche worker and a helper who would work from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Padma, who worked at a creche from 1993 till last year, said the scheme was earlier under the Urban Development Department before being shifted to the WCD.
“In recent years, we have been hearing that creches will be converted into anganwadi hubs. If this budget upgrades creches, it will benefit the poorest children,” she added.
Financial hurdles
However, some previously established creches have shut down due to funding issues.
Near the Patparganj anganwadi, two rooms that once housed a creche run by an NGO named Samaj Vikas Samiti are now locked. Posters with learning materials still hang on the walls, but children now sit outside because the facility is no longer in use.
Nasir Malik, who runs the NGO, said the government stopped funding creches under the WCD in June 2023, and dues have not been paid since 2022.
“A few years ago, creches were moved under the WCD but since last year, we have received no funding,” Mr. Malik said.
Published - April 07, 2025 01:24 am IST
