Government\u2019s sustained initiatives<\/strong> on education<\/strong>, skilling<\/strong> and employment<\/strong> of women have resulted in increased opportunities for their employment, and more and more women are now in gainful employment, working within or outside their homes. Past few decades have shown a rapid increase<\/strong> in nuclear families<\/strong>. Thus, the children of such working women, who were earlier getting support from joint families while they were at work, are now in need of day care services<\/strong> which have to provide quality care<\/strong> and protection<\/strong> for the children. Lack of proper day-care services is, often, a deterrent for women to go out and work. To address these difficulties faced by the working mothers in giving due child care and protection to their children, day-care cr\u00e8che facilities<\/strong> are being provided through Palna Scheme<\/strong>. Cr\u00e8che services formalise the child care responsibilities hitherto considered as part of domestic work. Formalization of care work<\/strong> supports the \u201cdecent work campaign\u201d<\/strong> to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 8 \u2013 Decent work and economic growth<\/strong>. This will also enable more mothers, who will be free from unpaid child-care responsibilities, to take up gainful employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, <\/strong>erstwhile National Creche Scheme <\/strong>was reorganized and renamed as Palna Scheme <\/strong>under the sub scheme \u2018Samarthya\u2019 <\/strong>of \u2018Mission Shakti\u2019. Palna<\/strong> is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme<\/strong> ensuring the participation of State\/ UT government to ensure better day-to-day monitoring and proper implementation of scheme, and is implemented with a funding ratio of 60:40<\/strong> between Centre and State Governments and UTs with legislature except North East & Special Category States<\/strong> where ratio is 90:10<\/strong>. For UTs without legislature, 100% funding<\/strong> is provided by the central government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Objectives of the Palna Scheme<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The objective<\/strong> of the Palna scheme is to provide quality cr\u00e8che facility<\/strong> in safe<\/strong> and secure environment<\/strong> for children (from ages 6 months \u2013 6 years), nutritional support<\/strong>, health and cognitive development<\/strong> of children, growth monitoring<\/strong> & immunization<\/strong>. Cr\u00e8che facilities under Palna are provided to all mothers, irrespective of their employment status.<\/p>\n\n\n Apart from the aforementioned primary objective, another objective of the component would involve monitoring compliance<\/strong> of the stipulations laid down in Section 11A<\/strong> of the Maternity Benefit Act<\/strong> regarding setting up of cr\u00e8che facilities by the establishments. For this purpose, the States\/UTs would explore the possibility of hosting an application\/portal in convergence with the Labour & Employment Departments<\/strong> of their respective States\/UTs for facilitating establishments to register on the portal and furnish details in respect of the cr\u00e8ches set up in accordance with the Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Integrated Package of Services under Palna<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Palna component under the Mission Shakti scheme aims to deliver a comprehensive set of services to children aged 6 months to 6 years. These services are designed to support early childhood care, development, and nutrition in convergence with Mission Poshan 2.0<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key services include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of enhancing access to childcare facilities, the Ministry of Labour & Employment<\/strong> has amended the Maternity Benefit Act<\/strong> to mandate all establishments with 50 or more employees<\/strong> to provide a cr\u00e8che facility.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Anganwadi cum Cr\u00e8che (AWCC)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two types of Cr\u00e8ches<\/strong> under Palna: Standalone Cr\u00e8ches<\/strong> and Anganwadi-cum-Cr\u00e8ches (AWCCs)<\/strong>. As per Mission Shakti guidelines, for Standalone Creches, there is a provision of one Creche Worker<\/strong> and one Creche Helper<\/strong>. Similarly, for AWCCs, in addition<\/strong> to the already existing Anganwadi Worker<\/strong> and Anganwadi Helper, a provision for a Creche Helper<\/strong> and a Creche Worker<\/strong> has been made in Mission Shakti Guidelines. Anganwadi centres are the world’s largest childcare institutions<\/strong> dedicated to providing essential care and support to children ensuring delivery of care facilities till the last mile. Anganwadi cum Cr\u00e8che initiative aims to increase \u2018women work force participation\u2019<\/strong> in the economy. The Ministry of Women and Child Development <\/strong>is targeting to establish 17,000 new Anganwadi cum creches under the Palna Scheme in 2024-25. As of March 2025<\/strong>, 11,395 AWCCs<\/strong> across 34 States\/UTs<\/strong> have been approved, as per proposals received from various States and UTs.<\/p>\n\n\n Cr\u00e8che Workers <\/strong>under supervision of Anganwadi worker<\/strong> do proper care and safety of children attending the Creche:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Anganwadi Cum creche scheme shall be implemented with the intra-ministerial convergence specially with Integrated Child Development Services <\/strong>and Poshan<\/strong>. It complies with legislations under Labour Laws<\/strong> as well as Maternity Benefits Act<\/strong>. As of February 2025<\/strong>, 1,761<\/strong> AWCCs<\/strong> are operational with 28,783<\/strong> current beneficiaries. Besides this, 1,284 Standalone Creches<\/strong> are also operational across the country with 23,368 <\/strong>current beneficiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creche Operation under Palna Scheme<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n The Mission Shakti Guidelines state that the cr\u00e8che timings<\/strong> need to be flexible<\/strong> depending on the local requirements. Cr\u00e8ches shall be open for 26 days in a month<\/strong> and for seven and half (7.5) hours per day<\/strong> as per the work schedule of majority of the mothers in the area. The Standard Operating Procedures<\/strong> for AWCCs also state that the Creche timings may be decided by State\/ UT governments as per local need<\/strong>, however, it has to be ensured that timing should facilitate working mothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Creche Workers and Creche Helpers under Palna are honorary workers<\/strong>. There is no provision of salary<\/strong> or wages<\/strong> to the Creche Workers or Creche Helpers. However, the scheme guidelines have provision for grant of honorarium to Creche Workers and Creche Helpers. The amount<\/strong> of honorarium is governed through the type of Creche<\/strong>, and is detailed as below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Palna as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is implemented through the respective State\/ UT Government. The respective States\/ UTs may provide additional amount of honorarium<\/strong> to Creche Worker\/ Helpers, as a Top-Up from their own funds. There is no bar or restriction<\/strong> from the Central Government about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The funds allocated<\/strong> and released<\/strong> under Palna scheme since its introduction, are detailed as under:<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Amount in Crores)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n *Data as on December 19, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n To maintain quality care and individualized attention, each cr\u00e8che is ideally limited to a maximum of 25 children<\/strong>. To ensure ease of access and continued breastfeeding for infants, cr\u00e8ches must be situated close to either the:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This proximity supports parental engagement and provides convenience in emergencies or regular pick-up and drop-off.<\/p>\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By providing a safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate environment for children aged 6 months to 6 years, the Palna scheme ensures that children receive holistic care, nutrition, education, and health services. With convergence across key ministries and flexibility to adapt to local needs, Palna strengthens the foundation for a healthier, more inclusive, and gender-sensitive society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Journey of Women Empowerment and Child Care \u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00adIntroduction Government\u2019s sustained initiatives on education, skilling and employment of women have resulted in increased opportunities for their employment, and more and more women are now in gainful employment, working within or outside their homes. Past few decades have shown a rapid increase in nuclear families. Thus, the children of such working women, who were earlier …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[80],"post_format":[],"flags":[],"class_list":["post-41759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india-news","tag-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41761,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41759\/revisions\/41761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41759"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_format&post=41759"},{"taxonomy":"flags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fflags&post=41759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Region<\/strong><\/td> Centre’s Share<\/strong><\/td> State\/UT Share<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> General States<\/strong><\/td> 60%<\/td> 40%<\/td><\/tr> North-Eastern and Special Category States<\/strong><\/td> 90%<\/td> 10%<\/td><\/tr> UTs with Legislature<\/strong><\/td> 60%<\/td> 40%<\/td><\/tr> UTs without Legislature<\/strong><\/td> 100%<\/td> 0%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.pib.gov.in\/WriteReadData\/userfiles\/image\/image002MHKP.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nType of Creche<\/strong><\/td> Creche Worker<\/strong><\/td> Creche Helper<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> Standalone Creche<\/strong><\/td> Rs. 6,500<\/td> Rs. 3,250<\/td><\/tr> AWCC<\/strong><\/td> Rs. 5,500<\/td> Rs. 3,000<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Financial Year<\/strong><\/td> 2022-23<\/strong><\/td> 2023-24<\/strong><\/td> 2024-25<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> Amount Allocated<\/strong><\/td> 35<\/td> 85<\/td> 150.11<\/td><\/tr> Amount Released<\/strong><\/td> 4.68<\/td> 64.15<\/td> 43.66*<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \n
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