How these mobile daycare centres in Pune are supporting the children of migrant construction labourers

Every morning, Chitrakala, a 31-year-old migrant labourer in Pune, drops her one-year-old son at a creche in the labour colony where she lives, before she leaves for work. She then picks him up after work in the evening. 

The colony houses makeshift homes near the construction site where migrant labourers work. 

Thanks to Tara Mobile Creches Pune, Chitrakala is able to earn a living and doesn’t spend her time at work worrying about her son’s needs. 

“It used to be very difficult earlier as I used to just sit at home to take care of the children but now because of the creche I can work. I am not worried about my child as they (caregivers at the creche) take complete care of his food and safety,” says Chitrakala, who works as a housekeeper at a construction site. 

Chitrakala is one of the many migrant workers in Pune who have relocated from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,  Rajasthan, and Karnataka in search of better opportunities. However, while they work, they often struggle to provide proper care for their children. Besides, bringing children to the construction site where they work poses safety risks.

To address this pertinent issue, Tara Mobile Creches Pune runs daycare centres for the children of migrant workers, near construction sites, offering food, education and healthcare facilities. Currently, these centres are located in 15 areas across Pune. Once construction is over in a particular site, the daycare centre moves to another place where the next job starts. 

“Amidst the noise of hammers and other machines, the young children of migrant workers are vulnerable to child labour, poor education, and lack of proper growth and development. Through our creche we aim to provide a nurturing and happy environment to the children to ensure that they become educated, healthy individuals,” says Manjusha Doshi, Chief Executive Officer, Tara Mobile Creches Pune. 

Providing holistic development

Tara Mobile Creches was initially founded by Meera Mahadevan in 1969 in Delhi, when she saw the plight of children in construction sites. Later, in 1980, Sindhutai Sawardekar established its Pune branch. However, in 2007, all the branches became independent entities for ease of work and management. 

Tara Mobile Creches Pune works on the three pillars of health, nutrition, and education. 

Children from birth to six years are taken care of in the creches while their parents are at work; the older children come to the centres for food and classes. 

Health checkups are conducted for the children once a month at the centres. The NGO has eight doctors on board who screen the children for cough, cold and fever and treat minor injuries. 

If there are major issues such as weak eyesight or the need for surgery, the doctors refer the child to a government or private hospital. The organisation covers all the expenses related to the child’s treatment.

“We also take care of pregnant and lactating mothers to minimise their morbidity. We also do regular home visits and ensure that the child gets the post operative care needed in certain cases,” explains Doshi. 

The NGO also provides three meals to the children, which include milk, rice, pulses, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. These meals are planned by an in-house nutritionist.

Additionally, the NGO regularly monitors the height and weight of the children. Children who are malnourished are provided extra meals. The NGO’s team also educates the parents about the amount of food their children should eat and the kind of nutrients their bodies require. 

On the education front, the NGO helps in enrolling the children above the age of six in local government schools. 

“At times, children of these migrant families come from faraway states and do not have necessary documents like Aadhaar cards and birth certificates. Our programme coordinators help facilitate admissions in schools in such cases,” says Doshi. 

The NGO has also hired teachers who offer extra coaching to students and assist them with their homework at the daycare centres. This helps in building the children's foundational learning, which may have been impacted as many of them start schooling late. 

The daycare centres also hold non-academic activities such as dancing, painting, and drawing to engage children and improve their concentration. 

Each centre has a head, three to four staff members, and a few helpers who assist with tasks such as taking children to the restroom. 

While the organisation primarily focuses on children till the age of 18, it also assists students in pursuing higher education by helping them enroll in college and paying their fees. So far, it has helped more than 10 lakh students in and around Pune.

Mallinath M Shinge, who is a headmaster in a school now, recalls going to the centre for extra classes from Grade 6. After completing his schooling, the organisation helped him enrol in a diploma course in education in Pune. 

“I am also simultaneously doing my B.Ed. The organisation has supported me in my journey till here,” says Shinge. 

In some cases, the NGO has also helped some children in finding placement in residential facilities and student hostels. This arrangement ensures that, even as their parents move from place to place for work, the children can remain in one location and continue their studies without interruption.

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Challenges and support

Talking about the challenges in the journey, Doshi highlights that many builders and developers don’t understand the need to invest in children’s education and other needs. 

The team tries to make them understand the impact that migration has on a child’s growth and development and convince them to build creches/daycare centres in the labour colonies.

“All I can say is that this takes a lot of time and effort,” says Doshi. 

The organisation has forged partnerships with Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India; developers such as Pride Builders, Rohan Builders, and Shapoorji Pallanji; corporate firms such as Bajaj Finser; and individual donors. These partners provide financial assistance to support the NGO’s work.