Pratidhwani the Echo

A Peer-Reviewed International Journal of Humanities & Social Science

ISSN: 2278-5= 264 (Online) 2321= -= 93= 19 (Print)

Impact Factor: 6.= 28 (Index Copernicus International)

Vol= ume= -V, Issue-IV, April 2017, Page No.81-90

Published by Dept. of Bengali, Karimganj College, Karimganj, Assam, India<= span lang=3DEN-GB style=3D'font-family:"Cambria","serif";mso-fareast-font-family= :"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Cambria;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-bidi-language:BN-B= D'>

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Impact Assessment of Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme in Kumargram Block of West Bengal

Pritom Das

M.A. in Development, Azim Premji University, Bangalore

Nabin Das

M.A. Social Work in Livelihoods and Social Entrepreneurship, Tata Institute of Social Science, Guwahati

Subhasis Mondal

M.A. in Development, Azim Premji University, Bangalore

Abstract

The childhood period of any child is very important physical and mental develop= ment or growth. But, the inevitable changes like women entering the work field h= ave an effect on the child care and development. So, childhood requires protect= ion, care and support from the society and the state also. Government frames and gets various legislations, policies, and programmes implemented through its machinery and other organizations. Due to slow growth of different child ca= re facilities, it was felt that women among all socio-economic groups in both = the organized and unorganized sectors need support in terms of quality, substit= ute crèche/day care services for their young children while they are at work. R= ajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme launched to accomplish these objectives. The present study is an outcome of an in-depth fieldwork on the impact assessme= nt of seven crèche centres’ functioning as well as the beneficiary families. T= hese centres of Kumargram block of Alipurduar, West Bengal were operated by an N= GO named KREDA. As this work is totally based on primary data. Pre-structured questionnaire was used for data collection from crèche centres, while villa= gers were probed with survey schedule, FGDs, and observation tool. Simple statis= tical tools were used to analyse and interpret the data.

Key= words: Crèche, Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme, Impact Assessment.<= /span>

Introduction: Early childhood is the underpinning period= of life. Basic attitudes and behavior patterns get developed in the first five= or six years of life (Hangsing, 2011). National Policy on Education (1986) has explicitly recognized the importance of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECCE) as a crucial input for human development. In this regard, Rajiv Gand= hi National Crèche Scheme for the children of working mothers (launched in 200= 6) was one of the pioneer programmes which strongly articulated the need and importance of early childhood education. It was proposed to provide day care facilities to the children of working mothers. The reason behind approaching this particular scheme in action can be traced with social need rather than just providing basic education foundation to early childhood. Since last few decades of the twentieth century, there has been observed dual inevitable changes in Indian society which justified the need for these type of servic= e. Firstly public and private sectors have started to provide increased opport= unity to them. On the other hand, the breaking up of joint family system and the increased phenomenon of nuclear families, working women need support in ter= ms of quality, substitute, and care for their young children at working hour. There were existing services from private enterprises, but with the limited number and very slow growth rate resulting in failure to meet the needs of working mothers in terms of extent, content, and quality of services. Apart from this, women belonging to poor families also required support and relief from childcare as they struggle to cope with the burden of activities, with= in and outside the home (WCD, 2012). It is well understood that life success, health, and emotional wellbeing have their roots in early childhood. Effect= ive day care for young children is essential and a cost-effective investment as= it provides support to both the mothers and young children. Investing resource= s to support children in their early years of life brings long-term benefits to = them and to the whole community. Early childhood development is very important f= or every kind of children and it can predict the future welfare of every child. (Awo= feso and Rammohan, 2011). Studies by Reynolds et al. (2001) and Young(1996) reve= aled that early childhood development programmes benefit children with higher and timelier school enrolment, higher school completion rates, improved nutriti= on and health status, child morbidity and mortality, improved social and emoti= onal behaviour, and increased earning potential and economic self-sufficiency as= an adult. Apart from this, these types of programmes also act as a protection measure as it addresses issues such as child labor, school drop outs, child prostitution, outreach for medical and health programme female literacy etc= .

     Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS), Mid-Day-Meal, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme were the flagship programmes working with child development, protect= ion, education etc. However, there has been the low priority in programme child development for children care & protection. Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) scheme focuses on the basis of services provide to the child= ren group. Through this scheme, the community workers & helpers provide supplementary nutrition, non-formal, pre-school education, health check-up = etc. While Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche scheme working mother is providing comprehensive day-care services to young children (0-6 years) of working ot= her deserving women belonging to the low-income category.

     The word ‘Crèche’ originated from Fr= ench word which means infant bed. A crèche is defined as provide occasional secu= rity and protection for less than 8 years old children, and these facilities are provided on by Crèche worker in particular platform. According to its French origin, crèche refers to the crib. The crèche has been displayed in churches during the period from Christmas Eve since the Middle Age. It is a kind of tradition of Cristian home even before the custom of Christmas Trees. The crèche has become popular in modern days in several countries as it provides proper care and protection to young children. The crèches structurally main= tain and provide a safe environment for young children, for their healthy growth, nutrition, play materials, cradles, sanitation, beds and a supervisor of th= e crèches provide support and take care of every child in absent of their parent. (Su= path Gramyodyog Sansthan, 2013).

     The history of crèche scheme in Indi= a is not the very old concept. In 1969 at a construction site in Delhi first mob= ile crèche was set up (Pattnaik, 1996). Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche scheme was implemented during 2006 throughout India. The scheme was implemented through the Central Social Welfare Board and a national level Voluntary Organisatio= n, namely Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW). Emphasis was particularly p= ut in the BPL areas. The structure of the scheme was specially designed for children of working mother. The main objective of the scheme is to provide = the good quality child care facility. The space required for a child is 6-8 sq.= ft. in a crèche center. All facility like electricity (fans, lights), sanitatio= n, toilet as well as the sleeping facility was to be present in a crèche cente= r. The scheme also proposed for a free space for playing with playing material= s as well as teaching material present in the centre. Conversely, several studies have been conducted by scholars to benchmark the real impact of crèche sche= mes (Sharma et al., 2013; Supath Gramyodyog Sansthan, 2013). Crèche services ha= ve been recommended also in different studies on health and nutrition status of working mothers’ children. (Abbi et al.,1988; Nyberg, 2000). According to D= as (2014), the Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Scheme for the children of working mothers sets an example for other programmes that are not up to the mark to take good care of the children’s nutrition. In fact, this scheme has been considered for convergence as a social security scheme for the elimination = of child labours (Nath et al., 2013). In this backdrop, the present study has = been conducted in Kumargram block where an NGO named KREDA is running centres un= der this scheme for working women of different tea estates. The study aims towa= rds assessing the impact of the scheme by measuring the achievable goals. Moreo= ver, a socio-economic study was carried out with the families whose children were attending the crèche centres.

Context, Community, and Method: The study area was selected with the prior direction of the project director of Khagrabari Rural Energy Development Association (KREDA). It operates in mainly three districts of West Bengal namely Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar. KREDA took the scheme as implementing agency and started the centres in 2008 in selected tea estate areas of Kumargram block where the labours live in colonies. Kumargram community development block is situated in Alipurduar sub division of Alipurduar districts. This block consist 11 Gram Panchayats. The total population of this block is 199,609 with a sex ratio of 945. (2011 Census) = The total literacy rate is 63.79%. The entire block has 36.77% SC population wh= ile ST population is 30%. Seven crèche centres studied in this work belong to Turturi and Rydak panchayat. Entire study area commonly comes under Dooars region of North Bengal. Undulating, hilly topography covers the region along with forest and seasonal rivers. As labours of local tea estates have migra= ted from their ancestral homes in different parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal decades ago for the cause of employment, they have developed a unique cultu= re. They reside in spaces provided by tea garden enterprises with houses constructed of wood, bamboo and tin. Communicative languages of the villages are Saadri and Bengali. Nepali language is also observed in some villages. There is no space for agricultural operation in the villages. In some cases, the villagers cultivate some climbers and other horticultural crops in their small kitchen gardens. They collect timber and non-timber forest products f= rom adjoining forests. Almost all the families have at least one tea garden employee which is the main source of income.

     This independent study is based on p= rimary data which was collected through several tools. Fifteen each family were randomly selected from all the households whose children are enrolled in the centre. Household survey schedule was primarily used to collect data on gen= eral information, livelihood pattern, parents’ perception of the scheme, their satisfaction level and general suggestions for the betterment of the scheme. Subsequently, focused group discussions were conducted with each centre beneficiary families to find out problems and their suggestions to make the centres run better. Contrariwise, crèche workers (recruited by KREDA from colony families) were probed with pre-structured questionnaires. Inferences, results, and conclusions have been drawn out from the analysis of data with simple tools. Repeated and same type of queries was asked from respondents = to validate the data.

Demographic Profile of the Villages: The villages under study area are mostly tribal dominated except the two of Fashkhawa and Jayanti Tea Estate. During field survey, it was found that all centres enrolled 25 each child in their register. In some families, there was more than one child. Therefore, 25 separate families were not evenly present in each centre. Accordingly, 15 e= ach household were randomly selected from whatever number of guardian families = were there with the help of crèche workers.

                  Table 1: Literacy status of the surveyed househol= ds

Name of the Village

Male

Female

Total

Illiterate

Literate

Illiterate

Literate

Fashkhawa

23

13

21

23

80

Jayanti

16

24

21

17

78

Rahimabad

18

22

25

15

80

Turturikhand

18

17

24

13

72

Kartik Poulus line

18

25

15

25

83

Kartik Jaduline

22

19

25

15

81

Rydak

20

24

27

17

88

Total

135

144

158

125

562

     There were total 105 families survey= ed consisting 562 souls with sex ratio of 1014 in part of male. Literacy rate = was 47.86% which was more in male members of the households. Village children usually = go to nearest villages or small towns for high school education.

Table 2: Family wise information of survey= ed households

Name of the Village

Family ty= pe

Family si= ze

Nuclear

Joint

Extended<= /span>

Total

BPL Card Status=

Fashkhawa

8<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

5<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

5.33

7

Jayanti

11=

1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

3<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

5.20

5

Rahimabad

13=

1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

5.33

0

Turturikhanda

14=

1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

0<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

4.80

7

Kartik Poulus line

9<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

4<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

5.53

6

Kartik Jaduline

9<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

4<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

5.40

3

Rydak

9<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

4<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>

15

5.87

8

Total

73

18

14

105

5.35

36

     About three fourth of the families b= eing nuclear, joint families are more than the number of extended families. Fami= ly size is largest in Rydak village. Most families have at least one case of migration to nearby cities. 36 families have BPL card issued by panchayats, among which Rydak village is maximum. There are some families whose BPL Card status is pending for years. 74.28% of families’ belonged to tribal communi= ties (mostly Santhal, Oraon and Munda), 19.05% OBC and remaining from general ca= ste. About one-third of families are associated with SHGs formed in the village. Among them Jayanti village has one family linked with SHG and Kartik PL do = not have such families. During the study, it was found that the labours of tea garden get the wage of Rs. 90 per day along with the facility of electricit= y, drinking water etc. in most areas. As they do not have any agricultural land for cultivation, they grow some fruits and vegetables in their home garden. Apart from this most of the studied families have domestic animals. Rahimab= ad village does not have any electrical connectivity and sanitation facility. = The villagers of Rydak do not have drinking water supply facility from the fact= ory. They have tube wells instead. Total 65.71% families have the electricity fa= cility while one-fourth of them have the facility of the low-cost latrine.

Perception of the Key Stakeholders of the Crèche Centres: As crèches are to provide a warm, welcoming, safe and stimulating environment = for young children, they must meet the required standards. According to the nor= ms, the parents are obliged to pay (Rs. 20/months and Rs 60/month per child) for additional facilities in the crèche. The centres studied in the research started after formation of a local sub-committee with educated peoples in t= he society as well as from NGO. Then, it was decided in the meeting that, the villagers will pay Rs. 20 for services at monthly basis. Nevertheless, the system did not last longer. Soon, the parents stopped funding. Throughout t= he study, it was observed that the children brought study materials from their homes. Villagers’ perception on the scheme respondents were enquired about their perception on the scheme through schedule as well as in FGDs. The cen= ters usually run in the houses of crèche mothers if they are from the same villa= ge. As at least one family member is engaged in tea garden labour works, all mothers are not full timely working whose children are enrolled in crèche centres. Rather, they get employment seasonally. But, whether the mothers g= o to work in the factory or get engaged in unpaid household works, their childre= n go to centres regularly.

Table 3: Time of sending children to crèche centres

Age of child for sending to centres=

6-9 months

9 months to 1.5 year

1.5 -3 years

3-5 years

Frequency

20

38

31

16

     During the household survey, the par= ents were asked about the age in which they send their children to centres. They were provided the option to respond freely. Later their responses were categorized consequently. Most of the guardians send their children in ages from 9 months to 18 months. According to them, in this age, their children learn to be separated from mothers for few hours. Nearly one-fifth of guard= ians send their children even before 9 months. 31 respondents told that they send their children in 18 months to 3 year age as in this age children become ke= en to interact with fellow children.

Table 4: Major reason behind sending child= ren to crèche

Childcare at work

Education

Safe environment

Sanitation and health care practices

Supplementary nutrition

Following neighbours

37

28

7

12

16

5

     The respondents replied that they ha= ve been motivated by multiple reasons for sending their kids to crèche. Right = from the inception of those centres in the tea estate labour colonies, they obse= rved its benefits. Table no. 4 states the major reason emphasized take them the decision of enrolling their children in respective centres. Most of them responded that they get relief at work if their children are at crèche. According to one-fourth of parents, basic education and inculcation of study habit are the major reason which helps children in future to get success in life. Other good habit developments, safe environment, and neighbours’ acti= vity are also motivating factors in this.

Table 5: Source of money for expenditure on children

Labour work

Service<= /span>

Forest product=

Animal rearing=

vegetable cultivati= on

54

11

29

8

3

      Though the guardians were not paying money for crèche services during the study, they were spending money on educational expenditure of children. Most of them used to save some amount = from their wage. Apart from this, they spend money from their services (Governme= nt, private and entrepreneurial), marketing their forest, animal and vegetable produce.

Crèche Workers’ Perception on the Scheme:<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Most of the members have been working since 2008. After recruitment, they were taken for training on basic teaching methods, childcare, health and hygiene, and nutrition. They were personally interviewed about the functioning of the centres. The primarily responded t= hat they were not satisfied with the salary provided to them. It was Rs 1000 per month which often paid irregularly. Therefore, they usually get engaged in other part time jobs. Moreover, the fund for supplementary nutrition is not satisfactory and irregular and villagers have stopped their contribution, therefore, tiffin for children is not time and again prepared and children = of elder age group rush to ICDS centres for food. Project implementing NGO has also complained the same problem of the irregular recurring grant from state authority. Crèche mothers had several suggestions to improve the scheme like regularization of fund flow, updating of teaching learning material, improvement in centre building and additional basic facilities.<= /span>

Assessment of Crèche Centres: <= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-ascii-= font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ascii-theme-font:major-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:"T= imes New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font:major-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:major-latin'>Implementing agencies are accountable to provide the basic minimum facilities to ensure that the children in the cen= tre have a hygienic, healthy and child-friendly environment for their proper gr= owth and care. In the present study, the crèche workers were probed with the pre-designed questionnaire regarding the functioning of the centres. <= /o:p>

Table 6: Centre wise functioning of differ= ent centres

C= entre

Fashkhawa

Jayanti

Rahimabad

Turturikhand

Kartik PL

Kartik JL

Rydak

C= rèche unit no

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

S= tarting year

2008

2008

2008

2008

2008

2008

2008

L= ocation changed

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

W= illing to change location

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

No

No

T= iming

8:30 am to 12:00 pm

8:30 am to 12:30 pm

8:00 am to 11:00

am

7:30 am to 11:30 am

8:00am to 11:00 am

9:30 am to 12:30 pm

7:30 am to 11:00am

F= acilities

P= lay area

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

S= leeping

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

P= lay materials

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

C= ooking utensil

Provided

Provided

Provided

Provided

Provided

Provided

Provided

F= irst aid kits

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

D= rinking water

Supply Water

Supply water

Handpump

Supply Water

Supply Water

Supply water

Handpump

F= oods provided

Suji, biscuit, khichri

Suji, biscuit, khichri

Biscuit, suji

Suji, biscuit, khichri

Suji, biscuit, khichri

Suji, biscuit, khichri

Suji, biscuit, khichri

M= others linked to SHGs

35%

11%

40%

43%

0%

50%

40%

L= ink to PHC

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

T= ie up with Anganwadi

No

No

Very good

Good

No

Good

No

L= ocal sub committee

Not in proper function

Not in proper function

Not in proper function

Yes

Yes

Not in proper function

Yes

D= isplay board

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

     As all the centres started functioni= ng soon after recruitment of the crèche workers with 25 children, most of them have remained in same place. The location of crèche centre has been changed= in Kartik Jaduline due to frequent elephant attack. Fashkhawa centre has been shifted to Chuniyajhora. But the change has yet not been registered in WBSW= B. In Turturikhand the center was changed for a time but later it running in t= he extra room near MSK where it started earlier. Most of the centres were foun= d to be running with one single room. The play area is there in most of the cent= res but it is not adequate anywhere. As per utensils, one dekchi, one bucket, 25 plates, and stove were provided during starting and no replacement has been done later. As Tiffin, the mentioned items are provided but due to the irregular release of the recurring grant, it has been stopped. So the child= ren are not provided adequate food every day. Most of the centres collect water from supply water. But there is not any separate water source only for a cr= èche centre. The local subcommittee was formed in every centre but due to the problems in supplementary nutrition arrangement, the mothers have reduced t= heir interest in meetings. The crèche workers were found to maintain attendance register on a regular basis. They keep first aid box for emergency use. All= of them had convergence with Primary Health Centres and Anganwadi Centres.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Children need access to nutrition, basic social services, such as health, education, protection, and care to improve their welfare and their capacity. They are the asset for future. Delivery of social services requires increasing financial resources and particularly, t= he quality of public expenditure in these areas. Additionally, Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model is also required along with administrative reforms and children’s centric development approach. The stu= dy reveals that the families are economically poor as well as they spend very = less in education. Though crèche is not the only place to take care of their children, the parents keep their children during the morning to noon time a= nd use the benefit of the scheme well. The centres face several problems during bad weather and natural calamities too. Nonetheless, the guardians were fou= nd to be satisfied with the educational improvement of their children. They recognized the benefit of the scheme on developing better habit and culture= in their kids. During guardian- crèche worker meeting of most villages, they w= ere found to be motivated in later stage and were willing to improve the situat= ion. They proposed several recommendations in this regard:

1.      Recurring grant should be regularized from government and NGO side.

2.      Parents should contribute an amount for the development of the centres at a regular basis which will be acceptable and bearable by all.

3.      Local government bodies (panchayat) should support the centres by facilitating their emergency needs.

4.      Convergence should be strengthened with the schemes like ICDS, ASHA, Mid-day Meal etc.

5.      Separate room should be constructed for ea= ch centre to ensure protective environment during all weather.

Ref= erences:

                                                 =                                                                =

·      =    Abbi, R., Gujral, S. & Gopaldas= , T. (1988). The Impact of Maternal Work Status on the Nutrition and Health Stat= us of Children Maharashtra, available on http://www.popline= .org/node/317962 13(1),5- 20.

·      =    Awofeso, N., & Rammohan, A. (2011). Thr= ee decades of the Integrated Child Development Services Program in India: prog= ress and problems. INTECH Open Access Publisher.

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Name of the Village	Male	Female	Total
Illiterate	Literate	Illiterate	Literate
Fashkhawa	23	13	21	23	80
Jayanti	16	24	21	17	78
Rahimabad	18	22	25	15	80
Turturikhand	18	17	24	13	72
Kartik Poulus line	18	25	15	25	83
Kartik Jaduline	22	19	25	15	81
Rydak	20	24	27	17	88
Total	135	144	158	125	562

Name of the Village	Family ty= pe	Family si= ze
	Nuclear	Joint	Extended<= /span>	Total	BPL Card Status=
Fashkhawa	8<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	5<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	5.33	7
Jayanti	11=	1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	3<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	5.20	5
Rahimabad	13=	1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	5.33	0
Turturikhanda	14=	1<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	0<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	4.80	7
Kartik Poulus line	9<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	4<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	5.53	6
Kartik Jaduline	9<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	4<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	5.40	3
Rydak	9<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	4<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	2<= span lang=3DEN-IN style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New R= oman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times Ne= w Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:E= N-IN'>	15	5.87	8
Total	73	18	14	105	5.35	36

Age of child for sending to centres=	6-9 months	9 months to 1.5 year	1.5 -3 years	3-5 years
Frequency	20	38	31	16

Labour work	Service<= /span>	Forest product=	Animal rearing=	vegetable cultivati= on
54	11	29	8	3

C= entre	Fashkhawa	Jayanti	Rahimabad	Turturikhand	Kartik PL	Kartik JL	Rydak
C= rèche unit no	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII
S= tarting year	2008	2008	2008	2008	2008	2008	2008
L= ocation changed	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
W= illing to change location	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
T= iming	8:30 am to 12:00 pm	8:30 am to 12:30 pm	8:00 am to 11:00 am	7:30 am to 11:30 am	8:00am to 11:00 am	9:30 am to 12:30 pm	7:30 am to 11:00am
F= acilities	P= lay area	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
S= leeping	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
P= lay materials	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
C= ooking utensil	Provided	Provided	Provided	Provided	Provided	Provided	Provided
F= irst aid kits	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
D= rinking water	Supply Water	Supply water	Handpump	Supply Water	Supply Water	Supply water	Handpump
F= oods provided	Suji, biscuit, khichri	Suji, biscuit, khichri	Biscuit, suji	Suji, biscuit, khichri	Suji, biscuit, khichri	Suji, biscuit, khichri	Suji, biscuit, khichri
M= others linked to SHGs	35%	11%	40%	43%	0%	50%	40%
L= ink to PHC	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
T= ie up with Anganwadi	No	No	Very good	Good	No	Good	No
L= ocal sub committee	Not in proper function	Not in proper function	Not in proper function	Yes	Yes	Not in proper function	Yes
D= isplay board	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes