CCTVs to be made must for crèches

NAGPUR: Assistant police inspector of the Kharghar police station will be suspended from service pending enquiry for his alleged dereliction of duties in dealing with the complaint of a parent about her 10-month old baby being ill-treated at a crèche. While CCTV cameras would be made compulsory for all such centres, the government also promises to formulate a comprehensive policy for regulating such crèches and play schools.
This was announced in response to a calling attention motion in the state Assembly on Saturday by members Sunil Prabhu, Ashish Selar, Bharti Lavhekar and others.Members from both sides were agitated over the November 21 incident at Purva Daycare Play School in Sector 10 of Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. A ten-month baby left in the care of the crèche was inhumanly beaten by the ‘aaya.’ The video clips of kid being thrown by the ‘aaya‘ had gone viral.
Angry members wanted to know what steps the government would take to prevent such inhuman incidents. They were also livid over insensitive approach of the police personnel at Kharghar police station who were reluctant to take the parent’s complaint against the owner and staff of the said day-care centre. Only after it was established by a hospital that the infant had suffered fracture injuries and later CCTV footage was shown that the police register the case two days later.
Minister of state for home Ranjit Patil tried to pacify the members saying that the crèche owner and the erring staffer were arrested and matter was in court. He also added that the since the regulation of crèches was handled by Women and Child Welfare ministry, the government would ask the ministry to come out with a new policy considering safety aspects of kids.
Bowing to pressure from the angry members, women and child welfare minister Pankaja Munde announced that the government would immediately make it mandatory for all crèches and playschools to install CCTV cameras She also agreed to consider imparting training and sensitisation under skill development schemes. The government was seized of the matter that with increasing numbers of young parents left with little options but to leave kids at day-acre and crèches, there was need to regulate their functioning.