Mobile Creches

“What did the child eat last night? How did they sleep? Is anything troubling them?” Every morning at 8am, Lalitha asks these questions of the parents of 48 children at a construction site in Gurugram. Before any mother or father walks into a day of hard labour, she assures them that their most precious responsibility is in good hands. “A mother going to work against all odds may not know everything her child learns here. But what she knows is that one didi is taking care of her child so she can work in peace,” she says. Lalitha has been that didi for nearly 12 years, as a care worker with Mobile Creches. For migrant families, that peace of mind is rare. Anganwadis close at 12 noon, hours before their shifts end. And the families keep moving, with about 60% of children leaving a centre every three to four months. Mobile creches has spent 57 years closing that very gap, ever since a makeshift creche at Rajghat in 1969. It offers a full-day care for children where families work and live, with meals, health checkups and early learning. But CEO Sumitra Mishra is clear that no one organisation can do this alone. “Childcare is economic infrastructure. It is the foundation of any nation and empowers parents,” she says. So what would it take to make it everyone’s responsibility? Mobile Creches’ “care circle” offers a way forward. In partnership with @Mobile_Creches