Railways to solve babysitting woes?

Plans are afoot to open day care centres at major railway stations across the city to help working women

Besides facilitating your commute, the railways could soon have the answer to your babysitting woes.
For, if things go according to plan, major railway stations across the city will soon have day care centres, where working mothers can leave their kids while they are in office. The idea of having creches at railway stations in Mumbai was first introduced in the 2010 Railway Budget by Mamata Banerjee, but it had failed to gain traction until last week's meeting between railway officials and members of Parliament. When the MPs were asked for suggestions, Shiv Sena MP Bharat Kumar Raut raised the issue.

u00a0
Dual comfort: Only a few commuters are aware of the crehes at
Mumbai Central, Santacruz and Bycullau00a0 stations, where children ofu00a0
ages 1 to 5 years are taken care of in their parents' absence.file pic

"I was supposed to bring this up in Parliament, but since I did not get an opportunity to do so in the last session, I decided to speak to the railway officials. Having creches at railway stations is important and could prove very useful for working women, but nothing has been done about it so far despite it being mentioned in the railway budget," said Raut.

However, if railway officials are to be believed, a creche was started for railway employees and passengers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in 2009, which had to be shut down in a few months because of poor response. Countering this, Raut said, "How will having a creche at CST alone be successful? A commuter boarding from Kalyan, for instance, would rather leave her child there than travel with him in the overcrowded train to leave him at a day care centre in CST. The facility will be a success if at least the major stations, if not all of them, have it. Space is available at the stations for this and the creches should be open to all and should not be restricted to railway employees alone."

Raut said that creches at railway stations have proved to be a huge success in London. "I am a journalist as well and I get many suggestions and complaints from women commuters. I have also seen many women working in my office leaving in a rush every day because they have to take their kids from creches before they close for the day." He also suggested that the railways charge some money for the day care centres and provide good food and hygienic conditions. "I will remind the railway authorities again and if they don't respond positively, I will write to the railway minister," said Raut.

Oficials speak
Kul Bhushan, general manager, Central and Western railway, who had organised the meeting, seemed positive and said, "I will look into the matter."u00a0 K Singh, PRO, CR, said, "The idea was announced in the railway budget earlier. We are checking how feasible it is and whether there is space for creches at railway stations. If everything falls into place, setting up the day care centres will take a few months at most."

Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, Western Railway, said, "The creches that we already have are meant for railway employees, but we provide the facility to others too if there is space. We are now planning to start creches at a few other railway stations as well."

In existence
Very few commuters know of the existence of creches at Mumbai Central, Santacruz and Byculla railway stations. Children between the ages of 1 and 5 can be kept here and railway employees are charged Rs 600 while outsiders have to pay Rs 1,000 per month.At Mumbai Central, there are three caretakers for the 13 kids at the creche, while the Santacruz centre has 10 kids. The timings of these centres are 9.30 am-7 pm.

The Byculla creche is called Chunmun and has been operational for two years. Sneha Agarwal, president, Central Railway Women's Social Services Committee, who manages the creche, said, "I am not happy with the response the creche has been getting. There are only eight kids there despite us looking after the kids well and ensuring their safety."

A railway official, however, said, "One of the key reasons behind the creches not being a success is that very few people know about them. The current and upcoming creches can be successful if people know about them and if we succeed in providing good facilities."

Voices
Kajal Wilben, who has an 8-month-old daughter and travels to her office in Andheri from Juinagar every day, said, "I think this is a good initiative as long as the people taking care of the babies are trained properly and they can create a homely atmosphere. The noise at railway stations will also be a problem and the railways should ensure that the creches are cleanu00a0--ot like the dirty railway stations."

Vaibhavi Shitut Amle, who works for an NGO and leaves her kid in a day care centre, said, "The move is a good one, but we cannot trust the railways blindly. We will have to see the centres and the facilities they are providing before entrusting our kids to them."

Did you know?
Nearly 11 lakh women use the suburban railway network every day and close to 55,000 of them are working women.