The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Demand for crèches booms

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 22, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Demand for crèches booms

J.Malarvizhi

ITES-BPO segment signals increase in the number of working mothers

CHILD'S PLAY: Children of members of the Women Lawyers' Association at the crèche run by the Association on the High Court premises on Friday. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: Nuclear double-income families are fuelling a rising need for crèches and childcare in the city.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is drafting a bill making crèche facilities mandatory for offices employing more than five women with children below the age of six.

In the city, several parents are on the lookout for better childcare facilities near their workplaces or homes.

There is a profusion of such facilities, with fees ranging from moderate to hefty, in areas like Adyar, Anna Nagar and Mylapore.

However, suburban areas are poorly served; even some areas in the heart of the city lack crèches. A. Renuka, a government employee, moved to T. Nagar from C.I.T. Nagar a few years ago. She is finding things difficult after the one she was sending her eight-year old to for the past three years closed down.

Priya depends on relatives to look after her two-year-old. "There are hardly any childcare facilities in Chromepet and none nearby", she says. Vidya Srikanth, the mother of a one-year-old, says there are no facilities nearby in Madipakkam. Ms. Vidya, whose mother is looking after her child, says she was willing to pay for the services of a good crèche but there are none nearby. Distance does not hamper parents with means. Several parents from Thiruvanmiyur drop their children off at her crèche in T. Nagar, says Shilpa Darshankumar, who runs Vridhi.

With more nuclear families around, her services are also required for children to interact with others and develop social skills, she says. She also has to look after children when the parents go shopping or attend functions.

Hema Ramachandran, who runs a more informal setup, says that her services are appreciated for being affordable and friendly. Those with parents or in-laws living nearby generally do not require crèches, she says.

Even public institutions are turning child-friendly with the intervention of non-governmental organisations or employee associations. The Kalaiselvi Karunalaya runs a crèche at Stanley Hospital for children of outpatients. The Women Lawyers' Association runs one for its members and the High Court itself runs one for the children of litigants at the Family Court.

Such interventions are becoming increasingly necessary with the rising number of women in the workforce, says Sashi Devi of the Association. Childcare responsibilities are also being shared with men sometimes dropping off children at the crèche, she says.

More women hired

In fact, citing a study conducted by NASSCOM recently, Sangeeta Gupta, vice president, NASSCOM, noted, "The emerging ITES-BPO segment is hiring more women than the traditional IT services industry. In the software industry, the male-female ratio is 76:24. In the ITES-BPO sector, the ratio is 31:69."

With the rising number of women in the industry, it is only a matter of time before crèche facilities become mandatory at software companies, says a NASSCOM representative.

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