Bengaluru: Month after daycare abuse case, revised guidelines to monitor them yet to be issued

A month after the incident involving the abuse of children by caretakers at a daycare centre operating within the campus of a major IT firm, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) is yet to draft and release revised guidelines for monitoring private crèches. The commission has formed a committee to revise the guidelines required to monitor crèches and daycare centres. The draft guidelines will be shared with the Department of Women and Child Development.

Speaking to The Hindu, Indramma G., Secretary, KSCPCR, said, “We have formed an expert committee headed by a retired senior official, president and members of KSCPCR along with officials from various departments and will soon frame revised guidelines to monitor crèches and daycare centres.”

Sources from KSCPCR confirmed that the expert committee is headed by Sripad S., former Joint Commissioner of the Labour Department along with other members who will be present to give recommendations in these guidelines.

Sources also said that the revised guidelines will appoint a nodal department to monitor the crèches across the State and a district-level inspection committee to inspect these crèches and daycare centres.  

At present, under the 2015 guidelines for the establishment and functioning of crèches and daycare centres, there is no nodal department or agency at the State government level to monitor them.

K.T. Thippeswamy, former member of the Commission and a child rights activist, expressed disappointment over the delay in issuing new or revised guidelines for crèches. “By now, the Commission, with the help of an expert committee, should have issued revised guidelines, and a nodal department to monitor them should have been appointed,” he said.

“It is essential to have a separate inspection committee across various districts, and District Child Protection Officers (DCPOs) must be made the member-secretary of these inspection committees along with other officials who work closely with children and protect their rights. Because DCPOs actively engage with children across various age groups. They are also aware of child rights, Right to Education Act, 2009, Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, among others,” he suggested.