'Koosina Mane' creches soon in rural areas

Mangaluru: Creche facilities, which have been operational in urban areas, for working women to take care of their babies, will soon start in rural areas as well.

Named ‘Koosina Mane” (Child Home), these creches would benefit working mothers in rural areas to care for their infants in a healthy and safe environment while they are away at work.

The Department of Women and Child Development has planned open these with grants from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Initially, the target is to start childcare centers in one thousand villages of the state within 15 years.

55 centers for DK & Udupi:

In the initial phase, the state government intends to open centers in the districts where the need is greatest. So, most of these daycare centers will be built mostly in North Karnataka.

In the 2nd and 3rd phases, it has been proposed to establish 33 centers in Dakshina Kannada and 22 centers in Udupi districts.

Who can avail “Koosina Mane” facilities?

According to officials, it was initially determined to let women labourers employed under MGNREGS use the daycare centers. Later, it was decided to extend the facility to all women of the Gram Panchayat. Working mothers in rural areas can leave their infants at these centers.

Koosina Mane is different from Anganwadi centers, which care for children of age 3- 4 and above. Koosina Mane will admit young infants as young as one-year-old. A woman with an MGNREGS card will be employed to care for the infants.  Nutritious food will also be served to the infants, officials say.

Instructions have been received to identify the government buildings under the Gram Panchayats for establishing ‘Koosina Mane’ childcare centers. As many as 22 Anganwadi Center buildings have been identified in Udupi with additional space. In D.K., the process of identifying suitable premises is underway, said Kishan Rao and Vijayashyam, Assistant District Program Coordinators for DK and Udupi.