Board to set up creches for children of construction workers

“Most construction workers are couples who bring their small children along. These children have to endure the dust and unhygienic conditions at the sites every day. We have decided to set up creche where they will get free food,education and medical check-ups,” M R Anand,a senior official with the Labour Welfare Board,Gurgaon,said.

Anand added they have identified land for setting up the creche,which would begin operations in three weeks.

According to the plan,more than 10 creches will be set up in the Gurgaon area. Construction workers can drop off their children at the creche in the morning and pick them up in the evening. Only children up to the age of seven will be taken in.

“Many of these children develop health problems. They are also deprived of an education,” Anand said.

NGOs working for street children,meanwhile,have expressed reservations. Activists say most of the construction workers are employed on a seasonal basis,which results in the children moving with their parents from place to place,the commonest reason for most of them being early school dropouts.

“These children leave sessions midway and end up not receiving their certificates. If these creches do not address that problem,they won’t be of much use,” said Komal Ganotra,a child protection consultant with Childline India Foundation (CIF),an organisation that works for street and working children.

According to CIF,more than 2,000 such children accompany their parents to their workplaces in Gurgaon every day; the number is increasing. Ganotra also said it should be the responsibility of the construction company to take care of these children.

“With the amount of work these labourers put in,it is not easy for them to drop and collect their children from the creche in a place like Gurgaon. The Welfare Board will have to plan it very carefully so that it actually helps these children,” she said.